


iW^}^ 



# LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 






I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. J 




THE 



Mystery of Iniquity 



OR, 



ROMANISM NOT CHRISTIANITY. 



BY 



EEV. JESSE S. GILBEET, A. M., 

Of the Newark M, K Conference. 




NEWARK, N J,: 

WARD & TICHENOR, PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS. 

1872. 



The LiBRjiRr 
OP Congress 

WlSBWOTOU 






Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1871, 

By WARD & TICHENOR, 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



OOI^^TEE"TS. 



PAGE 

Preface, ...... 5 

CHAPTER I. 
The Issue Stated, .... 9 

CHAPTER H. 

A Glance at the Past, . . . .18 

CHAPTER in. 
Shall the Bible be our Guide ? . . 31 

CHAPTER IV. 

How HAS Rome Treated the Bible ? . .43 

CHAPTER V. 
The Test Applied, . . . .56 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Great Usurper, . . . .75 



4 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

CHAPTER VII. 
The Mass, . . ... 95 

CHAPTER Vm. 
Confession, . . . .103 

CHAPTER IX. 
Purgatory, . . . . . 115 

CHAPTER X, 

To Whom shall we Pray ? . . ,128 

CHAPTER XL 

Celibacy, . . . . . 147 

CHAPTER XII. 
The Convent System, . . . .158 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Minor Follies, . . , . . 171 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Drunk with Blood, .... 193 

CHAPTER XV. 
Rome in Prophecy, .... 205 

CHAPTER XVL 
The Peril of the Hour, .... 227 



PREFACE. 



^ I ^HE author of the present treatise is well aware 

that much has already been written and printed on 
the subject of Eomanism. Ever since the memor- 
able day when Luther nailed his celebrated theses 
to the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral, busy pens 
have been at work exposing the folly of Papal doc- 
trine and Papal practice. Much that has been 
written has, however, gone out of print and become 
obsolete, because it no longer bears on the existing 
state of the controversy. The spirit of Eome has 
never been changed, but her mode of operation, in 
this country at least, has been greatly modified 
within the past ten years. Waning in the old 
world, the idea has been conceived that the Papal 



-6 PREFACE. 

throne may some day be erected on the ruins of the 
American Eepublic. To carry out this bold plan 
no expense will be deemed too great, and no toil too 
severe. Our public school system must be destroyed, 
our rights of person and property invested, our halls 
of legislation and courts of justice brought under 
the control of Eomish influence, one citadel of our 
liberties after another taken and destroyed, until we 
are brought under the complete dominion of Eome, 
and are changed from a nation of inteUigent free 
men to a nation of blind and helpless Papal slaves. 
This new aspect of things renders it necessary 
that we have the advantage of fresh and additional 
light. It must be shown that the spirit of Eome is 
still the same, that she is ever the enemy of civil and 
religious liberty, and that, under a smiling exterior 
and fair promises, she conceals dark and- deep de- 
signs. Much that has been written on the subject 
of Eomanism within the past twenty-five years is 
either too learned and elaborate for general circula- 
tion, or else too abusive and sensational to gain 



PREFACE. 7 

general credence. The author humbly hopes that 
he has met a real want of the times. The present 
work is not designed to be an exhaustive treatment 
of the subject^ but simply to furnish a brief manual 
of the past history and present status of the Eoman- 
istic controversy. Great pains have been taken to 
secure absolute accuracy of statement, and to do 
justice in every case to those who maintain opposite 
views. How well the proposed object has been ac- 
complished must be left to the reader to determine. 
Trusting that some good may be wrought by the 
work now offered to the public, praying for the 
divine blessing on those still kept in the darkness of 
Eomanism, and looking earnestly forward to the 
time when the man of sin shall be destroyed and 
Jesus reign supreme over the nations of the earth, 
the author commits this, the result of much toil and 
study, to the thinking men and women of the land. 

Verona, N. J. J. 8. G, 



CHAPTER I. 

THE ISSUE STATED. 

" We do not look on the Fopish sect as a religion, hut rather as a 
hierarchical tyranny under a cloak of religion, clothed with the spoils 
of the civil power, which it has usurped to itself, contrary to our 
Saviour's own doctrine.^^ — MiLTON. 

nriHERE are elements of devotion in the char- 
acter of man, so deep-seated and universal, 
that some form of religion is rendered impera- 
tive. A sort of intuitive belief in the existence 
of a Supreme Being and a future state, impels 
all men to acts of adoration. Travelers have 
met with tribes and races, existing in a fearful 
state of physical and moral degradation : but 
none have been found without some form of 
religious belief and some form of worship. The 
belief is often vague and absurd, the form of 
worship low and revolting : but still the fact 



lO THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

remains, that men are everywhere instinctively 
impelled to acts of devotion. The stars of 
heaven, the beasts of the earth, and the fruits of 
the field, have all been the objects of human 
adoration. " In Judah was God known : his 
name was great in Israel :'^ but the Persian, 
ignorant of the true God, bowed before the 
setting sun, while the Egyptians gravely adored 
cats and cows, and the streets of Athens were 
filled with '< carved divinities.'' 

In addition to this general belief in the ex- 
istence of a Supreme Being and a future state, 
there is an almost universal conviction of sin, 
leading men to oflPer sacrifice and to look in some 
way for salvation. Hence in all ages, animal 
sacrifice has been common among the heathen, 
and for four thousand years was ofiered by a 
portion of the human family by Divine direction. 
If then, we are a fallen, sinful race, how impor- 
tant that we seek the Divine favor in the divinely 
appointed way ? A mistake here may be fatal. 
Who dare assert that in religion, it matters not 
what a man believes, so long as he is sincere ? 



THE ISSUE STATED. I I 

It is not SO in other matters. If we take poison, 
deeming it to be food, our sincerity and igno- 
rance will not save us from the natural conse- 
quences of our folly. In a hundred matters, 
*' there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, 
but the end thereof are the ways of death.'' 
The question of what is right and wrong in 
religious belief, becomes important and pressing, 
as the interests and value of the soul rise 
superior to the interests and value of the body. 
If all men were agreed as to the right method of 
regaining the Divine favor and image, it would 
nevertheless be our duty seriously to ponder 
whether mankind had found the path of truth : 
but when we remember that the world is divided 
in these things, that men profess opposite and 
exclusive creeds, how important and solemn 
becomes the question, " What is truth T^ The 
population of the world at the present time 
may be estimated at 1,250,000,000, and the 
religious condition of the world may be repre- 
sented in round numbers as follows: Idolaters, 
737,500,000; Christians, 328,980,000; Moham- 



12 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

medans, 177,500,000; Jews, 6,020,000; Mor- 
mons, 200,000. 

By " Christians,'' we mean those who profess to 
derive their doctrines from, and to be followers 
of Christ. Those that have been classified under 
the general name of Christians do not, however, 
all agree either in practice or in doctrine. 
Under this term have been included (improperly, 
we hope to show,) those who follow the faith of 
Rome. These number about 170,000,000, re- 
gard the Pope as their sole head and infallible 
guide, while all others are denounced as vile 
heretics, and without reserve given over to end. 
less damnation. The creed to which all bishops, 
ecclesiastics and teachers in the Romish Church, 
must give public assent, calls itself »' This true 
catholic faith, out of which none can be saved." 
Within the past few years fearful anathemas 
have been fulminated from the Papal throne, 
against all who dare to do their own thinking. 

One of the predecessors of the present Pope, 
in a celebrated bull, has said, <' We declare and 
determine it a principle absolutely necessary to 



THE ISSUE STATED. I 3 

salvation that all human beings are subject to the 
Pope." If the high claims of this arrogant 
Church are true, all Protestants will surely be 
forever damned. Luther, Calvin, Wesley, White- 
field, Locke, Newton, Leighton, Howard are, 
beyond all question, in hell : while Newman 
Hall, Bishop Simpson, Dr. McCosh, and thous- 
ands of devoted men, who are seeking to serve 
God and to do good, must be on the W£ij. Now, 
the Church of Rome, claiming for itself the name 
'* Catholic,'' holding that beyond its pale there 
can be no possibility of salvation, looking upon 
all other religious bodies as ^' pestilent sects," 
that are to be denounced and destroyed, chal- 
lenges the investigation of all thinking men. To 
investigate these claims is the object of the 
present treatise. If we find them sustained, we 
must lose no time in hiding ourselves under the 
protecting shadow of Rome ; but if we find them 
absurb and false, no contempt will be too severe 
for the Church that has dared to put them forth. 
We shall endeavor to carry on our investigation, 
in a Christian and candid spirit. We propose to 



14 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

show that Romanism is in no sense Christianity, 
that it is a foreign hostile power, the unfailing 
foe of all true religion, whose rise, progress, 
persecutions, and final overthrow have all been 
portrayed in Holy Writ. 

We propose to show that the doctrines and 
spirit of Romanism are in direct conflict with 
the doctrines and spirit of the Bible, that its 
history is dark and blood-stained, that it is the 
** Man of Sin^^ to be " destroyed," Babylon to be 
" thrown down,'' and the '' Great Whore'' to be 
"judged." We are well aware, that we shall 
not meet the views of that large class of 
persons, who look on Romanism as one form 
of Christianity among many others, or who, 
having given little or no attention to the subject, 
regard all denunciations of Popery as unchristian, 
because " there is good in all religions," and 
^* good and bad in all churches." If these good- 
natured people could only get a peep " behind 
the scenes," and behold the internal workings 
and morals of Romanism, they would soon find 
some more worthy object on which to bestow 



THE ISSUE STATED. 1 5 

their overflowing charity. There is another class 
that will take exception to the views set forth in 
this book. I mean that class of whom Father 
Morrell and Dr. Ewer constitute the fitting repre- 
sentatives. These men are professedly Protes- 
tant, yet harp on the " Failure of Protestantism/' 
and as far as they dare, mimic the ways and 
forms of Romanism. Every now and then some 
of them muster up courage to identify them- 
selves with the church that they have so long 
admired, and all lovers of outspoken truth re- 
joice that another, like Judas Iscariot, has gone 
** to his own place.^' While, however, we hold 
and maintain this view of the Roman Catholic 
Church, we would not imitate her bigotry and 
narrow-mindedness. Let it be remembered that 
in these high and exclusive claims, the Church of 
Rome stands alone, like Milton's Satan, " By 
sin exalted to so high pre-eminence. '^ No other 
religious body claims to be the janitor of Heaven. 
The charity that they withhold from us, we 
extend to them, for while we cannot fail to per- 
ceive that the great mass of Romanists are 



1 6 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

living in sin and without Christ, we cannot 
forget that Fenelon, Pascal, and Masillon, were 
in communion with the Church of Rome. These 
were saints, not because they were Roman Cath- 
olics, but in spite of the fact. They were like 
those flowers that grow up from the bosom of a 
dead and decaying tree. The writer of this 
book has met with some members of the Romish 
Church, whom he had every reason to believe 
were sincere Christians. But all this proves 
nothing in favor of Romanism. A man may be 
saved while a member of the Church of Rome, in 
the same manner and for the same reason, that a 
heathen living up to the light of reason and con- 
science will be saved. *' God is no respecter of 
persons : but in every nation, he that feareth Him 
and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.'^ 
We shall use the word '* Church^' when speaking 
of Popery, only by way of accommodation. We 
do not believe that it is a church, any more than 
Mormonism or Mohammedanism can be called a 
church. It is more of a political than it is an 
ecclesiastical body. But as it claims to consti- 



THE ISSUE STATED. 1 7 

tute a church, and is usually called the Koman 
Catholic Church, we will sometimes use the word 
by way of convenience. We cannot, however, 
consent to use the word Catholic, unless accom- 
panied by some qualifying term, for this would 
concede the entire argument. We believe in, 
and belong to the true Catholic or Universal 
church. This church is composed of all who 
love and serve the Lord Jesus in sincerity and 
truth, no matter by what name they are called, 
or in what part of the world they reside. The 
matter then is fairly before us. The Church of 
Rome claims to be the only true church, and 
consigns to eternal damnation all who refuse to 
bow at her altars. This claim we propose to in- 
vestigate in the light of Scripture, reason and 
history, but with the spirit of Christian fairness 
and candor, without fear and without prejudice. 
May both reader and writer be guided into a 
knowledge of the truth. 



CHAPTER 11. 

A GLANCE AT THE PAST. 

" Ask for the old paths. ''^ — Jer. vi., 16. 

"'VJ'EARLY every one knows that the Church of 
Rome boasts of its antiquity, and in a tri- 
umphant tone, asks us, " Where the Protestant 
religion was before Luther ?^^ To answer this 
question will be the object of the present chapter. 
Let it be remarked, however, that the argument 
drawn from antiquity does not carry much weight 
with it, after all. Judaism is older than Roman- 
ism, and Heathenism older than either. We will, 
however, examine the claims of antiquity set up 
by Romanism, and see how well they are sus- 
tained by Scripture and history. To be of any 
value, the antiquity of the Church of Rome must 
be equal to that of the New Testament, else it 
cannot be the Church of Christ and his Apostles. 



A GLANCE AT THE PAST. IQ 

That a society of Christians existed in the City 
of Home, in the time of Paul, no one will deny. 
But did they set up the same claims, hold to the 
same doctrines and practices, that are now main- 
tained by the Papacy. If they did not, if they 
maintained views and practices the very opposite, 
then the Church now having its central power at 
Rome, is not the same with the small band of 
believers gathered there in the time of Paul, 
any more than midnight is one with noonday. 
We know what the Church of Rome teaches 
at the present time — we find it in her catechisms, 
prayer-books, in the writings of her leading men, 
in the canons and decrees of the Council of 
Trent. Perhaps it would be best, just at this 
point, to present a brief summary of her teach- 
ing, that we may have it for reference in the 
future : She believes, in common with us, in God 
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy 
Ghost; in the incarnation-— death and resurrec- 
tion of Jesus Christ, the final judgment, and a 
future state of reward and punishment. But on 
this foundation of truth, a vast superstructure of 



20 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

false doctrine and absurd practice has been 
erected. Here is a summary of Papal belief, as 
concocted by the Council of Trent, and issued in 
the form of a bull in December, 1564, (alas, for 
the boasted antiquity,) by Pope Pius IV. This 
is the creed before alluded to, to which all bish- 
ops, ecclesiastics and teachers in the Church of 
Rome must give public assent : " I most firmly 
admit and embrace apostolic and ecclesiastical 
traditions, and all other constitutions and obser- 
vances of the same Church; I also admit the 
sacred Scriptures according to the sense which 
the holy mother Church has held and does hold, 
to whom it belongs to judge, of the true sense 
and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures ; nor 
will 1 ever take or interpret them otherwise 
than according to the unanimous consent of the 
fathers. I profess, also, that there are truly and 
properly seven sacraments of the new law, insti- 
tuted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and for the sal- 
vation of mankind, though all are not necessary 
for every one, namely : baptism, confirmation, 
eucharist, penance, extreme unction, orders, and 



A GLANCE AT THE PAST. 21 

matrimony, and that they confer grace; and of 
these, baptism, confirmation and order cannot be 
reiterated without sacrilege. I do also receive 
and admit the ceremonies of the Catholic Church, 
received and approved in the administration of 
all the above said sacraments. 1 receive and 
-embrace all and every one of the things which 
have been defined and declared in the holy 
Council of Trent concerning sin and justification. 
1 profess, likewise, that in the mass, is offered to 
God a true, proper and propitiatory sacrifice for 
the living and the dead; and that in the most 
holy sacrament of the eucharist, there is truly, 
really and substantially, the body and blood, 
together with the soul and divinity of our Lord 
Jesus Christ; and that there is made a conver- 
sion of the whole substance of the bread into the 
body, and of the whole substance of the wine 
into the blood, which conversion the Catholic 
Church calls transubstantiation. I confess, also, 
that under either kind alone, whole and entire, 
Christ and a true sacrament is received. I con- 
stantly hold that there is a purgatory, and that 



22 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

souls detained therein are helped by the suffrages 
of the faithful. Likewise that the saints reign, 
ing together with Christ are to be honored and 
invocated, that they offer prayers to God for us, 
and that their relics are to be venerated. I 
most firmly assert that the images of Christ, and 
of the mother of God ever virgin, and also of 
the other saints, are to be had and retained, and 
that due honor and veneration are to be given 
to them. I also afiBrm that the power of indul- 
gences was left by Christ in the Church, and that 
the use of them is most wholesome to Christian 
people. I acknowledge the holy catholic and 
apostolic Roman Church, the mother and mistress 
of all churches ; and I promise and swear true 
obedience to the Roman bishop, the successor of 
St. Peter, prince of the Apostles and vicar of 
Jesus Christ. I also profess and undoubtedly 
receive all other things delivered, defined, and 
declared by the sacred canons and general coun- 
cils, and particularly by the holy Council of 
Trent ; and likewise, 1 also condemn, reject and 
anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all 



A GLANCE AT THE PAST. 23 

heresies whatsoever condemned, rejected and 
anathematized by the Church. This true cath- 
olic faith, out of which none can be saved, which 
I now freely profess and truly hold, I, A B, 
promise, vow and swear, most constantly to hold 
and profess the same, whole and entire, with 
God^s assistance, to the end of my life ; and to 
procure, so far as lies in my power, that the 
same shall be held, taught, and preached by all 
who are under me, or are entrusted to my care, 
by virtue of my office, so help me God, and these 
holy gospels of God, Amen." 

Now we know what are the teachings of 
Romanism, can we tell what was maintained by 
the primitive society of believers at Rome ? If 
we do, we can soon settle the question of anti- 
quity. Well, if we do not know what they 
taught, we know what was taught them. 

There was quite a long letter written to them 
by the Apostle Paul, which has come down to 
our day. Paul is good authority, (even if Peter 
was the reigning Pope,) but when it is remem- 
bered, that both parties admit that this letter 



24 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

was inspired, and that it is a portion of Holy 
Scripture, its authority as umpire in the case 
becomes supreme. Well, let us look at it. Do 
we lind anything in it about extreme unction, 
penance, indulgences, transubstantiation, the wor- 
ship of Mary, the adoration of saints and images ? 
Anything about purgatory, masses for the dead, 
the pre-eminence of the Roman Church, the su- 
premacy of St. Peter, confession, or worship in 
an unknown tongue ? Not a single word from 
beginning to end. The greatest heretic could 
have done no worse. Nay more, there are some 
things in this inspired letter that must have a 
curious sound to Roman Catholic ears. 1 wonder 
that they have never suspected Paul of being a 
Protestant. No doubt but that they would, had 
he lived and written a few centuries later, but in 
PauFs time, there was nothing in the Church at 
Rome, to protest against. He could say, " 1 
thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, 
that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole 
world.'' Should any one write such a letter at 
the present day to the people in Rome, he would 



A GLANCE AT THE PAST. 25 

very soon be condemned as a vile heretic. 
Surely times have changed. But let us look a 
little further into this epistle. It will amply 
repay examination. In the first verse of the 5th 
chapter, he saySj " Therefore being justified by 
faith^ we have peace with God, through our Lord 
Jesus Christy Why, Luther himself could not 
lay any more stress on faith. If we are justified 
by faith, what becomes of purgatory, penance 
and indulgences ? In the 33d and 34th verses of 
the 8th chapter, he says again : '* Who shall lay 
anything to the charge of God's elect~? It is Grod 
that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth ? 
It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen 
again, who is ever at the right hand of God, who 
also maketh intercession for us.'' This looks as 
though we might go right up to the throne of 
God, without having to stop in purgatory, and 
there endure fire of purification. Christ is said 
to make " intercession for us," but what has 
become of Mary and all the saints ? ** Paul, thou 
art beside thyself." 

In chapter 10th, verse 13th, he says : " For 



26 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord 
shall be saved." This is too bad. What is to 
become of the poor priests, with their confession 
boxes, indulgences, and masses for the dead ? 
The poor old Pope has just been hurling thunder- 
bolts of wrath against all not in communion with 
the '* Apostolic See,'' and here Paul tells us that 
if we " call on the name of the Lord'' we *' shall 
be saved." Other passages might be adduced, 
showing how little Paul knew of the dogmas and 
doings of Popery. Let such declarations as 
these be compared with the history and practices 
of Romanism. ^^ Him that is weak in the faith, 
receive ye." *' For the Kingdom of God is not 
meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, 
and joy in the Holy G-host." Beside the letter 
to the Romans, Paul wrote a number of others, 
as also did Peter and John. These letters both 
Roman Catholics and Protestants believe to be 
inspired, and place in the Canon of Scripture. 
But they all run like the Epistle to the Romans. 
Nothing about purgatory, mass, penance, relics, 
prayers to saints. Nothing is said of the Church 



A GLANCE AT THE PAST. QT] 

at Rome as being superior in power or dignity 
to the Church at Corinth, Ephesus or Jerusalem. 
Peter lays no claim to any superiority over his 
brethren, calls himself an " elder," and permits 
Paul to withstand him to the face. 

Now we are prepared to retort, and to ask 
Romanists where their religion was when Paul, 
Peter, James and John wrote their letters to the 
several churches. The Roman Catholic faith is 
old, we admit, but then it is not old enough. If 
we take a journey down the centuries, in order 
to get at the true faith, we will not stop short of 
Christ and his apostles. We are determined not 
to lose our way among the councils and fathers : 
but to pursue our inquiries until we reach the 
fountain head. Now, we are prepared to answer 
the question, " Where was the Protestant religion 
before Luther?" We reply, where it always 
was, still is, and ever will be : in the Bible. 
The Protestant religion is nothing new. It is 
simply the religion of the Bible, nothing more 
and nothing less. We ask the Romanists where 
their religion is, and what it is, and we are 



28 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

pointed to Papal bulls, to decrees of Councils,, 
and to the sayings of the fathers. Ask us the 
same question, and we point to the Bible. From 
it we derive our doctrines and morals. History 
informs us how the Papal corruption was brought 
about. We can tell when the fiction of purga- 
tory was invented, when that of the mass, and so 
on all through the chapter of shameful and 
shameless impositions. Not only can we point 
to the New Testament as the foundation of our 
faith and practice, but we have ample proof of 
an external kind, of the long continued, uninter- 
rupted, and pure existence of our faith on earth. 
Dr. Breckinridge has well put this point : " The 
fact is, if the Roman Catholic Church had never 
existed in the world, we would have abuniJantly 
more proof of the pure succession of thie Church 
of God on earth, than we have now. Because 
the chief objects of her existence have been to 
banish the Scriptures, to corrupt the church, to 
degrade the human race, to kill the saints of 
God, and to cover the earth with palpable dark- 
ness. How vast and how glorious would have 



A GLANCE AT THE PAST. 29 

been the living monuments to God, erected in 
whole nations which that church has butchered — 
that would now stand forth to bless our eyes, if 
she had never existed ! Alas ! our hearts sink 
within us when we contemplate the evil she has 
done, and dwell on the probable condition of 
the human race, at this moment, but for the dire 
influence of the Latin Church. Yet the very- 
breadth of her errors and crimes afibrds us 
evidence of the continued existence of the truth, 
in the hearts and lives of those who resisted her 
sway, or died beneath her strokes. The African 
churches of the early ages, the various Asiatic 
churches, especially the Nestorians, the Greek 
church, the Caldees in Ireland, the Waldenses 
in the South of Europe, the Moravians and 
Bohemians in the east of Europe, the writings of 
the early Greek and Latin fathers, the army of 
martyrs, have handed down to us evidence of 
the constant existence of those who did not bow 
the knee to Baal/' — Papism in the United States^ 
page 32. 

God has always had a people to serve Him. 



30 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

Truth has never been quite banished from the 
earth. Of this succession we are proud. We 
care but little for that boasted chain over which 
Romanists and High-Churchmen make so great 
an ado, every link in which is covered with rust 
and blood : but we do glory in the succession ot 
faithful witnesses for the truth. Many a long 
century has the true church abode in the wilder- 
ness, but she has never yet become extinct. She 
has lived all through the dark and stormy past, 
is advancing from one victory to another, and 
shall yet become the "joys of the whole earth." 
Popery has burned men and women and bibles, 
but the eternal truth of God, cannot be burned 
with iSre, bound by chains, or drowned in flood. 

" No : marble and recording brass decay, 
And, like the graver's memory, pass away : 
The works of man inherit, as is just, 
Their author's frailty, and return to dust : 
But truth divine forever stands secure. 
Its head as guarded as its base is sure ; 
Fixed in the rolling flood of endless years, 
The pillar of the eternal truth appears. 
The raving storm and dashing wave defies, 
Built by that Architect who built the skies." 



OHXPTER III. 

SHALL THE BIBLE BE OUR aUDDE? 



" To the law and to the testimony T — IsAiAH viii. 20. 
" Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my pathP — 
Psalm cxix. 105. 

rpHB great question between Eoman Catholics 
and Protestants is simply this : " Is the 
Bible sufficient as a rule of faith, and guide to 
salvation ? " We say that it is. They say that 
it is not. Prove that the Bible alone is suf- 
ficient ; that it is possible for us to read, study 
and understand the Bible, without the aid of 
popes, fathers or councils, and a complete victory 
is soon secured. No Eoman Catholic has ever 
dared to defend the doctrines and rites of his 
church by a simple appeal to the pure word of 
God. Smarius in his '^ Points of Controversy,'' 
(a Eoman Catholic work recently published) 
starts off with a chapter entitled, " The Bible 



32 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

not the only Rule of Faith and Practice/^ Lest 
some may think that our opponents are misrepre- 
sented, I will quote from, a standard Roman 
Catholic work — Milner's ^' End of Controversy : " 

*' The Catholic rule of faith, as I stated before, 
is not merely the written word of God, but the 
whole word of God, both written and unwritten; 
in other words, Scripture and tradition, and these 
expounded and explained by the Catholic Church. 
This implies that we have a twofold rule, or law, 
and that we have an interpreter or judge to 
explain it, and to decide upon it in all doubtful 
points/^ — End of' Controversy, page 80. 

The italics are those of the author quoted. 
There is a very short way by which to decide 
the question now fairly before us. The Bible is 
inspired. In other words, God is its author. 
Men wrote it: but God guided the pen and kept 
them from all error. This is admitted by both 
parties. Now what does the Bible say of itself? 
Does it claim to be man's only infallible and all 
sufficient guide? If it does, the matter is set- 
tled. In the 2d epistle to Timothy, 3d chapter 



SHALL THE BIBLE BE OUR GUIDE? 33 

and 15th verse, Paul says: *'And that from a 
child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures which 
are able to make thee wise unto salvation." 
This has a plain, straight-forward look. The 
Holy Scriptures are able to make a child " wise 
unto salvation/' Is not that wise enough ? Can 
Bishop Bailey or even Archbishop McCloskey do 
any better with the help of tradition and '^ Holy 
Mother Church ? '' But hold on, we are too fast. 
According to Dr. Milner, we have no right to 
discuss the question at all. On the 103d page of 
his most remarkable book, he has the following 
astonishing passage : 

** Before I enter on the discussion of any part 
of Scripture with you or your friends, I am 
bound, dear sir, in conformity with my rule of 
faith, as explained by the fathers, and particu- 
larly by Tertullion, to protest against your or 
their right to argue from Scripture, and, of 
course, to deny any need there is of mj replying 
to any objection which you may draw from it. 
For I have reminded you that ?io Scripture is of 
any private interpretation ; and I have proved to 



34 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

you that the whole business of the Scriptures 
belongs to the Church — she has preserved them, 
she vouches for them, and she alone, and by the 
help of tradition, authoritatively explains them. 
Hence, it is impossible that the real sense of 
Scripture should ever be against her and her 
doctrine; and hence, of course, I might quash 
every objection which you may draw from any 
passage in it by this short reply, The Church 
understands the passage differently from, you^ 
therefore you mistake its meaning.^^ 

Shades of Whately, defend us ! Is not this a 
perfect gem of fair and conclusive reasoning? 
I wonder that he ever wrote anything on the 
subject, when the matter can be settled without 
the exercise of thouglit or argument. But he 
gives us the reason : " Nevertheless, as charity 
beareth all things and never faileth, I will, for 
the better satisfying of you and your friends, 
quit my vantage ground for the present, and 
answer distinctly to every text not yet answered 
by me, which any of you gentlemen, or which 



SHALL THE BIBLE BE OUR GUIDE T 35 

Dr. Porteus himself, has brought against the 
Catholic method of religion.'' 

The dogmatic manner in which Dr. Milner 
assumes the very matter in discussion, and then 
triumphantly talks about leaving his ^' vantage 
ground/^ leads us to imagine that if he had lived 
a few centuries ago, he would have employed 
weapons more to his liking than are logic and 
Scripture. Rome has often found that fire and 
sword are no mean allies ; but of this, more anon. 

We will return to our examination of Scripture; 
nor will we allow Dr. Milner to rule this divine 
witness out of court. And Scripture, too, shall 
speak for itself, untrammeled by the sayings of the 
fathers, or by the decrees of councils. A Chris- 
tian church was founded by St. Paul in the city 
of Berea. We read that when the apostles 
preached to them, not satisfied even with their 
testimony, they ^' searched the Scriptures daily 
whether these things were so.'^ Strange to 
relate, this conduct on their part was com- 
mended ; and they were pronounced " more 
noble '' than the unthinking inhabitants of Thes- 



36 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

salonica. The preaching of the apostles might be 
investigated in the light of Scripture; but now 
we must receive with unquestioning faith the 
teaching of every little upstart of a priest, 
though he be too ignorant to read correctly a 
single line of the original Greek or Hebrew. 
St. Luke, in his preface to the book which bears 
his name, gives us the reason why he wrote : 

" It seemed good to me also, having had per- 
fect understanding of all things from the very 
first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent 
Theophilus, that thou mightest know the cer- 
tainty of those things wherein thou hast been 
instructed. '' Ah ! then tradition is not the most 
reliable thing in the world; and in order to 
*' know the certainty '' of divine things, we must 
have recourse to the written word. 

I think that we have pursued this line of thought 
long enough. Scripture claims to be an infallible 
guide ; and in no place allows to tradition a share 
in this high prerogative. Consider what tradi« 
tion is. Peter and Paul before they die, instruct 
some of their pupils in matters not mentioned in 



SHALL THE BIBLE BE OUR GUIDE? 37 

Scripture, or stated too obscurely to be under- 
stood. These, before they die, instruct others. 
These again, tell somebody else : and so the 
tradition is passed along through eighteen cen- 
turies of turmoil and conflict. And this is the 
"unwritten word,'' equal in importance and 
authority to the Holy Bible itself. Away with 
such absurd blasphemy. Tradition either merely 
accords with Scripture or else it must flatly con- 
tradict it. If it merely accords with Scripture, 
why is it of such high value ? The same virtue . 
may be claimed for thousands of worthy Chris- 
tian teachers. If it contradicts Scripture, it 
must be of the Devil. But, says another, it in- 
forms us on those points upon which Scripture is 
silent. Then it must go beyond Scripture, and 
what shall we do with those solemn words of the 
beloved disciple : *' If any man shall add unto 
these things, God shall add unto him the plagues 
that are written in this book.'' (Rev. xxii., 18.) 
But, says another, it does not contradict or go 
beyond Scripture ; it simply explains Scripture. 
But is Scripture so obscure that we must take 



38 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

this difiBcult and roundabout way to get at its 
meaning ? So Roman Catholics say. Indeed, one 
of their most eminent authors tells us that " The 
Scripture is not of itself, demonstratively clear in 
points of first rate importance ; and the divine 
law, like human laws, without an authorized 
interpeter, must ever be a source of doubt and 
contention." 

This simply amounts to saying that tradition 
is clearer than Scripture. Now if Paul, Peter, 
James and the other apostles could preach ip a 
clear and intelligent manner, why in the name of 
common sense could they not write in a clear and 
intelligent manner ? Men usually take more care 
in writing, than they do in speaking. More than 
this, they wrote by inspiration. I think, then, 
that we can get along very well without tradi- 
tion. The Scriptures are able to make us " wise 
unto salvation." 

One more point must be cleared up before we 
proceed with our discussion. Who shall interpret 
the Bible ? The Church of Rome claims to be 
the sole interpreter of this sacred volume. She 



SHALL THE BIBLE BE OUR GUIDE? 39 

must do the world's thinking in this respect. 
This claim we refuse to recognize. We claim 
that every man has not only the right to read, 
but to interpret this Book. In this glorious em- 
ployment, we may have the aid of God's Holy 
Spirit. " If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask 
of God, that giveth to all men liberally, aud up- 
braideth not." (James i., 5.) Let us see how 
the rule of the Romish Church will work. A 
poor sinner reads in the New Testament such 
gracious invitations as these : *' Come unto me, all 
ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will 
give you rest." *' And the Spirit and the bride 
say come. And let him that heareth say 
come. And let him that is athirst come. And 
whosoever will, let him take the water of 
life freely." Now, before he can form any idea 
as to the meaning of this, he must find out how 
the Church understands it, how all the Popes, 
councils and fathers have interpreted it. Then if 
he finds in all church history, a single dissenting 
voice, he jnust forever remain in awful uncer^ 
tainty : for there must be, according to the creed 



40 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

of the Council of Trent, the *^ unanimous consent 
of the holy fathers.'' Does not this shut us off 
from ever knowing the will of God ? But, says 
the Roman Catholic, do you not know that " No 
prophecy of the Scripture is of any private inter- 
pretation '' ? This is a correct Scriptural quota- 
tion, we admit : but let us look at it. You will 
find it in 2d Peter i., 20. Let us take context 
and all. " We have also a more sure word of 
prophecy: whereunto ye do well that ye take 
heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, 
until the day dawn, and the day star arise in 
your hearts : knowing this first, that no prophecy 
of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. 
For the prophecy came not in old time by the 
will of man ; but holy men of God spake as they 
were moved by the Holy Ghosf 

Notice three things : First, the remarks of the 
apostle only refer to the prophetic parts of 
Scripture. Second, we are urged to *' take 
heed" to (that is, consider,) the subject of 
prophecy. Third, the reason assigned why it is 
not of private interpretation, is that it came not 



SHALL THE BIBLE BE OUR GUIDE T 4 \ 

by the " will of man/' but from those who were 
"moved by the Holy Ghost.'' Now it seems 
strange that because prophecy is inspired, we 
must therefore be unable to understand it. Now 
suppose the word rendered interpretation, be 
translated as Doddridge, McKnight, Nevins, and 
many other excellent Greek scholars have trans- 
lated it, invention or impulse : how clear and 
intelligible becomes the entire passage. '^ Know- 
ing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture 
is of any private invention. For the prophecy 
came not in old time by the will of man : but 
holy men of God spake as they were moved by 
the Holy Ghosf One thing is certain, the 
apostle does not mean to deny the right of 
private judgment, or he would not exhort us to 
** take heed" to the " more sure word of pro- 
phecy." Romanists have no other passage of 
Scripture with which to support their strange 
views of biblical interpretation. Having but 
this one, they make a great ado over it, but we 
think that we have shown the utter fallacy of the 
conclusions they draw from it. In the present 



42 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

discussion, we shall cling to the Bible. This is 
the rule of our faith and practice : 

'* Most -wondrous book ! bright candle of the Lord ! 
Star of eternity, the only star 
By which the bark of man could navigate 
The sea of life, and gain the coasts of bliss 
Securely ; only star which rose on time, 
And, on its dark and troubled waters, still 
As generation, drifting slowly by 
Succeeded generation, threw a ray 
Of heaven's own light, and to the hills of God, 
The everlasting hills, pointed the sinner's eye." 



CHAPTER IV. 

HOW HAS ROME TREATED THE BIBLE ? 

" Tor I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the 
prophecy of this hook. If any man shall add unto these things, 
God shall add unto him the_plagues that are written in this hooh ; 
And if any man shall take away from the words of the hook of 
this prophecy^ God shall take away his part out of the hook of life, 
and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written 
in this hook.^^ — Key. xxii., 18-19. 

rr^HE Bible is God's great gift of love and 
mercy to a lost and dying world. It was 
designed to exist for all time, and to be read 
by all men. It teaches us how to escape from 
sin, death and hell. It contains such a rich 
world of hidden treasure, that centuries of de- 
vout study have not revealed all its meaning; 
while, at the same time, the great plan of sal- 
vation is so clearly revealed, that the most 
simple need not go estray. Millions have feasted 
on its heavenly truth, and died with its precious 



44 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

words of promise on their tongues. It has 
brought comfort to the broken-hearted mourner, 
peace to the burdened conscience and troubled 
heart of the poor sinner. Well has one of 
Israel's sweet singers said : 

" Precious Bible ! what a treasure 
Does the word of God afford ! 
An I want for life or pleasure, 

Food and medicine, shield and sword ; 
Let the world account me poor, 
Having this I need no more." 

Guilty, false, and cruel must be the system, 
that will degrade in any way this sacred vol- 
ume ; strive in any way to shut it out from the 
hearts and homes of the people. We call, then, 
in the name of our sin-burdened and suJBfering 
humanity, the Church of Rome to answer for 
her treatment of this Divine Book. We charge 
the Romish Church with having degraded, cor- 
rupted and mistranslated the Bible. We charge 
her with the crime of making the Bible a sealed 
book, by claiming to be its only expositor. 
With the crime of retarding in every pos- 
sible way, the circulation and reading of the 



HOW HAS ROME TREATED THE BIBLE? 45 

Bible. To sum up the whole in a single sen- 
tence, we charge the Romish Church with being 
at all times^ and in every possible way^ the invet- 
erate enemy of the Holy Bible, Can this charge 
be sustained? We shall see. It has already 
been shown that the Roman Catholic Church 
exalts tradition to an equal footing with Scrip- 
ture. This has been proved by witnesses 
taken from the Romish Church itself. It is 
a well-known fact, and one which no intel- 
ligent person, whether a Romanist or a Pro- 
testant, would ever think of denying. Is not 
this degrading Scripture? If we should make 
the doggerel of old Mother Goose a text 
book in our schools and colleges, would it not 
justly be considered as an insult to the writings 
of our philosophers and scientists ? 

It has also been shown from Roman Catholic 
authority that this Church claims to be the only 
reliable expositor of Scripture. Does not this in 
effect make it a sealed book? Let Dr. Milner 
answer. We are happy to refer the reader to 

this treatise, because the work of Milner is a sort 
5 



46 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

of standard among Roman Catholics as the wri- 
tings of Calvin are to the Presbyterians, or the 
writings of Wesley and Watson amoirg Meth- 
odists. He says : " The Churck does not dictate 
an exposition of the whole Bible, because she has 
no tradition concerning a very great proportion of 
itJ^ — End of Controversy, page 109. 

Well, things have come to a pretty pass, 
indeed. We dare not, as we value our eternal 
interest, interpret a single passage of Scripture 
for ourselves. We must trust all to the infallible 
church. But this infallible church itself does not 
know anything about ^^a very great proportions^ of 
the Bible. I have just been looking again at the 
work of Dr. Milner. I thought that I must have 
made a mistake, the announcement is so astonish- 
ing. But no, there it is in black and white, on 
the 109th page of his book. Any one may get 
and read it. " A very great proportion'' of the 
Bible can never be understood. Why was it 
written? Let the infallible church reply. But 
why may we not understand it ? Did not God 
intend that we should understand it ? We are 



HOW HAS ROME TREATED THE BIBLE ? 47 

told that all Scripture is profitable : but what 
good can it do us, if it is impossible for us to 
understand it ? Are we unable to secure the aid 
of the Divine Spirit : and is this the reason why 
we may not understand it? No, for God de- 
clares himself ever willing to bestow this price- 
less gift. What then is the reason ? Alas, we 
have no tradition. Who is willing to receive 
such absurd and blasphemous teaching ? Who is 
willing to follow a guide so blind and intolerant ? 
To the Roman Catholic the Bible must ever 
remain a sealed book. He dare not interpret 
the simplest passage, until he has secured the 
" unanimous consent of the holy fathers.'' Those 
who know much about the teachings of the holy 
fathers, must laugh at the idea of getting their 
*' unanimous consent.'' But we charged the 
Church of Rome with having corrupted the 
Bible. Let us look at this for a short time. In 
many large family Bibles, between the Old and 
New Testaments, there are placed fourteen vol- 
umes called the Apocrypha. The word apocry- 
pha is derived from the Greek Apokrapha, and 



48 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

means hidden, mysterious. There is no reason 
why these books should be bound together with 
the Old and New Testament. Any one can see 
that they form no part of Scripture. They do 
not claim to be inspired. They are not found in 
any catalogue of canonical writings made during 
the first four centuries after Christ. The Jewish 
Church never received them as a part of the 
Canon. Christ never quoted them, neither did 
any of the apostles. Those books contain state- 
ments at variance with history, self-contradictory, 
and opposed to the doctrines and precepts of 
Scripture. These books the Roman Catholic 
Church has exalted to a place in the sacred 
Canon. This was done by the Council of Trent 
in the 16th century. {The next time a Romanist 
asks me where my religion was before Luther^ I 
am going to ask him^ where his faith was before 
the Council of Trent.) 

Is not this a gross corruption of Scripture ? 
Why, the Bible is a very small part of the rule 
of faith and practice, adopted by the Church of 
Rome. By the time we get through with tradition. 



HOW HAS ROME TREATED THE BIBLE? 49 

•» 

the fathers and the apocrypha, we need but 
devote very little attention to the Bible. 1 do 
not wonder that so little prominence is given to 
the Bible, in the preaching and writing of Roman 
Catholics. 1 do not wonder that so few Roman 
Catholics know so little about the Bible. 
Imagine a Romanist commencing to read the 
Bible through. He must pause at the first verse, 
and before he can attach any meaning to the 
words, get the "unanimous consent of the holy 
fathers.^' When would he complete his first read- 
ing of the Bible ? I do not think I should care 
much to read the Bible myself, if I had to go 
through it in that style. 

We have charged the Church of Rome with 
being the inveterate foe of the Bible : and 
history confirms the truth of the charge, ^ay, 
more, we do not appeal to history alone. Let 
the present speak. The Romish Church claims 
to be the same in every age : and in some 
respects the boast is true. She certainly mani- 
fests in every age the same strange hostility to 
the word of God. To begin, then, the Roman 



50 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

Catholic Church has never published a Bible. 
This may seem a sweeping and uncharitable 
charge, but it is nevertheless true. We under- 
stand by a Bible, the pure, unadulterated word 
of God, published in the language of the people, 
without note or comment. Commentaries are 
good enough in their place, but commentaries are 
not Bibles. Barnes^ Notes, Clark's and Benson's 
Commentaries are not Bibles. If you went to 
purchase one of them, you would not ask for a 
Bible. Now, the Eomish Church has published a 
version of the Scriptures, but they have taken 
good care to counteract its manifestly Protestant 
tone, by appending a large addition of Papal 
comment. 

They have never dared to give the pure word 
of God to the people. What would you think if 
Presbyterians and Methodists should refuse to 
publish a Bible, unless interlarded with Cal- 
vanistic or Armenian comments ? Would you not 
say that they were afraid of the Bible ? This 
Romish version of the Scriptures is called the 
Douay Bible, because made at a town of that 



HOW HAS ROME TREATED THE BIBLE? 5 1 

name in France. Every scholar knows that it is 
a poor affair compared with our common English 
Bible, and that it contains many gross inac- 
curacies. Nor could it well be otherwise. The 
version of the Bible in common use among the 
Protestants, was made in England, under the 
reign of King James, in the year 1611. It was 
a careful translation of the original Greek and 
Hebrew, made by a large number of wise and 
good men. The Douay Bible is a translation of 
the Latin Yulgate, not of the Greek and Hebrew. 
It is a translation of a translation. This Latin 
Vulgate is itself a mixed and imperfect affair. I 
will simply mention one gross mistranslation, as 
a specimen of the rest. We frequently meet 
with the word repentance in the New Testament. 
It is a translation of the Greek word Metanoia, 
and expresses one of the conditions of salvation. 
It is a very important word. In the Douay 
Bible it is translated, doing penance. For this 
translation there is no earthly warrant. They 
might as well have rendered it dance a jig. Dr. 
Nevins justly remarks : " It would seem as if they 



52 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

were anxious to avoid the use of any word which 
expressed or implied either sorrow or amendment^ 
and therefore they fix on the phrase doing 
penance. I am mistaken if these translators 
have not a solemn account to give. This single 
rendering, if it were the only exceptionable one, 
would be as a millstone about the neck of that 
translation. Just think of the false impression, 
and that on a point of the highest moment, made 
on the minds of so many millions by this one 
egregiously erroneous version.^^ — Thoughts on 
Popery^ page 113. But the Church of Rome 
does not want the people to have the word of 
God in any form : and does not even look with 
favor on the general circulation and reading of 
the Douay Bible. As many may at first be 
tempted to question this statement we will go to 
a Romish work for proof, and once more appeal 
to the *' End of Controversy.^' ^^ Hence the 
Catholic Church requires her pastors, who are to 
preach and expound the word of God, to study 
this second part of her rule no less than the 
first part, with unremitting diligence; and she 



53 

encourages those of her flock, who are properly 
qualified and disposed, to read it for their ediflca- 
tion^ Notice two things, first, reading the Bible 
is not required as a Christian duty. It is merely 
encouraged. Second, only a few can ever enjoy 
this privilege : " those who are properly qualified 
and disposed.^ ^ This extract may be found on 
the 99th page of- Dr. Milner's celebrated work. 
But again he tells us that : *' The Catholic clergy 
must, and do employ, no small portion of their 
time, every day, in reading different portions of 
holy writ. But no such obligation is generally 
incumbent on the flock, that is, on the laity ; it is 
sufficient for them to hear the word of God from 
those whom God has appointed to announce and 
explain it to them, whether by sermons, or cate- 
chisms, or other good books, or in the tribunal of 
penance.'^ Page 311. 

This does not look as though Rome favored 
much the free circulation and reading of the 
Bible. But history gives us additional facts. In 
the 11th century, Pope Gregory VII. (the patron 
saint of American bishops) formerly returned 



54 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

thanks to God, because the decadence of the 
Latin tongue made the old Latin Bible unfa- 
miliar to the people. In 1229, the Council of 
Toulouse in its 14th canon "forbids the laity 
to have in their possession any copy of the books 
of the Old and New Testament, except the Psalter, 
and such portions of them as are contained in the 
Breviary, or the Hours of the Virgin : and most 
strictly forbids these works in the vulgar tongue/' 
The Council of Tarracone, 1242, ordered all 
versions of the Bible, that were in the language 
of the people, to be brought to the bishops and 
burnt. In the *' Ten Rules Concerning Pro- 
hibited Books, '^ drawn up by order of the 
Council of Trent, and approved by Pope Pius 
IV., we find in rule III. that versions of the Old 
Testament may be " allowed only to pious and 
learned men at the discretion of the Bishop.^' In 
rule IV. the free circulation of the Bible is 
declared to be hurtful in the extreme; permis- 
sion to read it must be obtained of the bishop or 
inquisitor, and all booksellers selling it to un- 
authorized persons are to be punished. 



HOW HAS ROME TREATED THE BIBLE ? 55 

The position of Eome on this subject has never 
changed. In 1816, 1832, and 1824, ordinances 
were issued from the Papal throne, against the 
diffusion of the pure Word of God. In the 
August number of the Catholic World for the year 
1868, the burning of Protestant translations of 
the Holy Bible is boldly justified. Enough has 
been said to show that the Church of Rome is 
the deadly foe of the Bible. As Protestants, we 
are prepared to boldly announce that we will 
never give up our right to read and study the 
Bible for ourselves. We will have it in our 
public shools, in our families and in our churches. 
It is too precious a book to be easily given up. 
Rome had better beware how she touches this, 
the Magna Charta of our spiritual freedom. We 
live in a Bible land, and in a Bible age. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE TEST APPLIED. 

" Ye shall know them hy their fruits^ — Matt, vii., 16. 
" Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee^ — Luke xix., 22. 

"\ /TEN may use the same term, but yet attach 
to it a widely diflferent meaning. There 
are few words in our language employed in so 
many different ways, as the word <« Church.'' 
Roman Catholics differ widely from Protestants 
in their view of the Church of Christ. Roman- 
ists claim that Jesus Christ established a visible 
ecclesiastical organization, in communion with 
which salvation is certain — out of which, it is 
impossible. We do not deny the existence of a 
visible church, but claim that " The Church (or a 
part of it) is there where the word and the sacra- 
ments are ; and the society in which the one is 
preached, and the other administered is a legitimate 



THE TEST APPLIED. 57 

part of the visible Catholic Church.'^ — Lit ten 
on the Churchj page 254. 

Of this visible church very wicked men may 
become members. The wheat and tares grow 
together. It is clear, then, that the true Church 
of Christ on earth must be invisible in its nature, 
and can only include those who love the Lord 
Jesus in sincerity and in truth. Such we claim 
it to be. The marks of the true Church as given 
by most Roman Catholic writers are unity, sanc- 
tity, catholicity and apostolicity. These they 
claim belong to the Church of Rome ; hence it is 
the true, the only Church. We maintain that 
these attributes can only be found in the invisible 
Church, and that no visible corporation or society 
on earth has ever been endowed with them. 
Least of all do they belong to the Church of 
Rome. This we propose to show ; and thus judg- 
ing Rome by her own standard, we shall condemn 
her out of her own mouth. The lirst testing 
attribute set up by Rome, is that of unity. On 
this theme they never seem weary of harping. 
Our church, say they, is ever the same — the 



58 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

same in government, the same in doctrine, and 
the same in worship — the same in every age and 
in every land : while Protestants are divided up 
into a vast number of discordant and hostile 
sects. This boast, however, has but little founda- 
tion in fact. The simple truth is, that change 
after change has taken place in the government 
and worship of the church ; one doctrine after 
another has been added to the faith, while be- 
tween the various monastic orders and parties, 
there has been far more difference and hostility 
than exists between the various denominations 
of Protestantism. 

Suppose we look first at the matter of govern- 
ment. The Pope is the great central power in 
Romanism — hence, it is very properly called 
Popery. He is the vicar of Christ, the Head of 
the Church, and in illustration of his supposed 
power over three worlds — Heaven, Earth and 
Hell — wears a triple crown. What can be more 
important in the government of the church than 
the manner of electing a Pope ? Well, suppose 
it can be shown that the Church of Rome has 



THE TEST APPLIED. 59 

greatly varied in the manner of selecting the 
successors of St. Peter, will it not look bad for 
the boasted unity ? Let us take Maimbourg, the 
great Jesuit historian, for our guide. We do this 
that our opponents may not charge us with un- 
fairness. According to Maimbourg, the first 
Pope selected his own successor. Then for the 
next five centuries, sometimes the people alone, 
sometimes the clergy alone, and sometimes the 
people and clergy conjointly, elected a Pope by a 
plurality of votes. Here are five different ways 
of choosing a Head for the Church. Then for 
the next twenty years no Pope could be chosen 
without the consent of the reigning prince. By 
and by, the Gothic kings cut the matter short by 
selecting the Pontiff without consulting either 
people or clergy. At the present time, the Pope 
is elected by the College of Cardinals : but we 
might show by continuing our study of this Jesuit 
historian, that before the present manner of se- 
lecting a Pope was fixed upon, there have been 
thirty fundamental variations in this important 
matter. Another curious reflection must come in 



6o 



THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 



right here. In 1181 the cardinals began to 
assume the sole power of electing a Pope. For 
eleven centuries they had no voice whatever in 
the election of a Pope. For the last five centu- 
ries they have had all to say in the matter. For 
eleven centuries those whom Christ appointed to 
select his representative had no voice in that 
election; or for more than five centuries those 
whom Christ never called to this authority have 
taken violent possession of it, and thrust out the 
true electors. Alas, for us poor divided Protest- 
ants ! We have no trouble in selecting a head 
for the church. We all agree that Christ is the 
great Head of the church. But not only has 
there been great diiBference among Romanists in 
the manner of selecting a head for the church, 
but there has often been no small amount of 
trouble in ascertaining who the real head was. 
Any one at all acquainted with church history 
has heard of the great western schism. Gregory 
XI. died in the year 1378. From that time until 
the year 1447, there were always two, and at one 
time three rival popes. One party had a Pope 



THE TEST APPLIED. 6 1 

reigning in Rome, and the other party had a Pope 
reigning in Avignon. 

This bears rather heavily on the unity argu- 
ment. Another startling fact remains to be 
mentioned: Not only has the church had two 
and even three heads at a time, but more than 
once has had no head whatever. After the death 
of Pope Leo IX., the papal throne was vacant 
for an entire year. After the death of Nicholas 
IV., it was without an occupant for two years 
and three months; and again stood empty after 
the death of Benedict XI. for eleven months. 
Many other such cases might be mentioned. We 
have referred to the great western schism. It 
may be well to state that of this schism Maim- 
bourg says : "It was the twenty-ninth which 
separated the Catholic communion, and divided 
between different heads the same church, to which, 
by all laws, human and divine, there should have 
been but one, and that in one person.'^ Glorious 
Unity. In fact, the Church of Rome is without a 
head every time a Pope diesy for there is always 
an interval before another Pope can be elected. 



62 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

Can it be that Christ's true church can some- 
times have three or four heads at once, and then 
again have no head whatever? We Protestants 
think that the church can have but one head, and 
that that head is Christ Jesus, the ever living 
and ever blessed Saviour of men. 

Which of the two beliefs do you regard as the 
most sensible ? We have spoken of the change 
that has come over the government of the Rom- 
ish Church; let us now look at the doctrines of 
this church and see if there has been any change 
there. The great strength of the Roman Cath- 
olic Church lies in its supposed infallibility. 
Yet strange to say, never before the decree of 
the late Ecumenical Council, have the Romish 
theologians been able to locate this infallibility. 
Some have placed it in the general council with the 
Pope at the head, while a few have ascribed it 
to the Pope alone. Archbishop Purcell, in his 
celebrated controversy with Alexander Campbell, 
distinctly repudiated any belief in the infallibility 
of the Pope alone. Dr. Milner, in his book on 
the papal controversy, distinctly says that no 



THE TEST APPLIED. 63 

member of the Roman Catholic Church is 
required to believe in the individual infallibility 
of the Pope. Yet it has just been defined as a 
dogma, and those who refuse to believe it are 
pronounced anathema. 

It is extremely difiScult to see how this decree 
has any logical force. If the Council is fallible, 
why may it not err in pronouncing the Pope to be 
infallible ? If the Pope pronounces himself to be 
infallible, we are then in a most ridiculous circle. 
Tl^e Pope is infallible because he declares himself 
so; and his declaration is true because he is in- 
fallible. Such is the sublime logic of Eome. 
Take the dogma of the immaculate conception of 
the Virgin Mary. This was never required or 
defined as an article of faith until December 8th, 
1854. Dr. Milner, writing in the beginning of 
the present century, said of it : '' The church 
does not decide the controversy concerning the 
conception of the Blessed Virgin, and several 
other disputed points, because she sees nothing 
absolutely clear and certain concerning them, 
either in the written or the unwritten word, and 



64 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

therefore leaves her own children to form iheir 
own opinions concerning them/^ But if any one 
should now dare to speak or write against the 
dogma of the immaculate conception, he would 
at once be given over to endless . damnation. 
This quotation from Dr. Milner is interesting, 
because it admits that there are " controversies'' 
and "disputed points'' even in the church claim- 
ing never to vary in the slightest particular. 
How can Romish writers claim the attribute of 
unity for a church, the history of which is a his- 
tory of successive corruption and change ? 

The Apocrypha, and Vulgate, and tradition 
were not exalted to canonical authority until the 
sixteenth century. The use of the Latin tongue 
in worship to the exclusion of the vernacular, was 
introduced in the seventh century. Transubstan- 
tiation was first taught in the eighth century and 
made no small commotion. In the eleventh, the 
Lord's Supper was mutilated by the establish- 
ment of communion in one kind. In the twelfth, 
the doctrine of Seven Sacraments was first 
taught. The doctrines of the meritorious virtue 



THE TEST APPLIED. 65 

of penance, of purgatory, and prayers for the 
dead, date no earlier than the seventh century, 
and were not positively aflfiirmed until the year 
1140. The power of granting indulgences was 
not claimed by the popes till the twelfth century. 
Auricular, confession was first enjoined by the 
fourth Lateran Council, in the thirteenth century. 
The celibacy of the clergy as universal and com- 
pulsory was ordained at the end of the fourth, 
and was confirmed by Gregory YII. at the end of 
the eleventh century. 

We admit that Eomanism forms a single 
organization, but the secret of this is very 
simple. Every rebellious and offending member 
is at once cut off. Those who bow not to every 
papal dogma, are immediately given over to the 
awful fate of unruly heretics. Yet even after 
all this ecclesiastical pruning and carving, many 
elements of discord remain. The Romish Church 
is made up to a large extent of different orders 
and societies. These are united enough so far as 
opposition to and persecution of Protestants are 
concerned, yet are far from constituting a '* happy 



66 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

family" among themselves. History acquaints 
us with long and bitter contests between the 
Franciscans and the Dominicans. The Jesuits 
have often been complained of to head-quarters, 
and were abolished by Clement XIV., in 1773, 
but restored by Pius VI., in 1814. There is now 
no small amount of discord between the Galilean 
and the Ultramontain parties. So much for the 
unity in the Roman Catholic Church. The 
second testing attribute or mark of the true 
church, claimed by Rome, is (do not laugh) 
sanctity. While absolute sanctity can only 
belong to the true invisible church, yet it is the 
design of pure religion to make men holy. ^- Be ye 
holy'' is God's great command. *^ Without holi- 
ness no man shall see the Lord." A system of 
faith that works no change in the heart, and 
effects no reformation in the life, cannot be of 
God's devising. Now, we affirm of Romanism 
that it has even no tendency to make men holy. 
The fact that now and then we discover a saint 
within her pale, does not refute the charge, for 
isolated cases of moral rectitude have occurred 



THE TEST APPLIED. 67 

even among the heathen. The Popes themselves 
have often been monsters in human form. This 
is admitted even by papal writers. The bishops 
and priests present a record, if possible, still 
darker. Says Dr. Kuter, in his Church History, 
speaking of the seventh century : *' Almost every 
crime which disgraces humanity entered into the 
dark catalogue of clerical vices.^' The centuries 
that follow present no change, unless for the 
worse. Those who think that priestly morals 
have improved in modern times, would do well to 
consider the sad case of Edith O'Gorman : or the 
abduction of Mary Ann Smith, with its dark 
record of lies and forgery. These, some may 
say, are only spots upon the surface, yet they are 
dark and deep enough to reveal the corruption 
that must lurk within. If any reader of this 
book doubts the charge of corrupt teaching and 
practice, let him obtain and peruse Den^s Theol- 
ogy^ or the Secreta Monita of the Jesuits. Some 
parts of the former work are so obscene, that no 
publisher dare give them to the world in an English 
form. He. would be subject to indictment under 



68 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

the law against indecent literature. The Secreta 
Monita contains the secret laws and regulations 
of the Society of Jesus or Jesuits, and form an 
exhibition of depravity and hellish teachings, 
absolutely appalling to contemplate. What can 
we expect from such teachers and such teaching ? 
" Like priest, like people." " If the blind lead 
the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." The 
most degraded and depraved of our populace are 
in open and full communion with the boasted 
" Mother Church.'' And never does Rome ele- 
vate in the mental or moral scale, those who 
throng her altars. Of this we see the proof 
every day. It is safe to affirm that one-third of 
the crime committed in this country, is committed 
by Roman Catholics. 

The history of the Romish Church is one long, 
dark record of bloodshed, oppression, hypocrisy 
and wrong. And to-day, there is no sign of any 
change for the better : no manifestations of 
spiritual life. It is still mumbling the misty 
traditions of the past, still encircled in medieval 
shadows, and still pouring forth a stream of 



THE TEST APPLIED. 69 

corrupt teaching, that bears death and desolation 
on every poisoned wave. Hear the testimony of 
one who has recently drank of this stream, and 
tested by a sad experience the present spiritual 
condition of Romanism. Rev. Edward Husband, 
who left the Church of England for the Church 
of Rome, recently came back again, and in a 
public letter states some of his experiences dur- 
ing his sojourn among the Romanists. " Wherever 
I went I was forced by what / saw and heard to 
make a comparison between the individual spirit- 
uality of mind in those I had left behind me in 
the Anglican Catholic Church, and those I found 
in the Roman Catholic Church. The result was 
that 1 knew there was far more spirituality, far 
more personal piety, far more holiness amongst 
the members of the Church of England than 
amongst those of the Church^'of Rome. And this 
was (in the first instance) not the fault of individ- 
uals, but of the system in which they were being 
educated. They had certain forms and cere- 
monies to keep and perform, and they did them 

because it was their duty to do them : and whea 

7 



yO THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

they had accomplished this duty, they flattered 
themselves that all was right in the sight of God. 
They worshiped him with their lips, but in too 
many cases their hearts were far from him. 
During the four or five months I was a Roman 
Catholic, I hardly ever heard the name Jesus 
devotionally mentioned. It was always the 
name of Our Lady. She was the ' Befugiam 
'peccatoriam^ not Christ, to the Roman Catholic 
in practice, though I hope in theory that it may 
be otherwise. Their churches, instead of sound- 
ing out the sweet name of Jesus, rang with the 
holy name of Mary : until her name, which, as a 
member of the Church of England, I loved and 
honored so highly, became shorn of nearly all its 
attractiveness because of the frightful abuse to 
which it was subjected. 1 never felt my soul so 
stirred and fired with indignation as when I saw 
the glory and supremacy of our only Saviour 
Jesus trampled upon by the Mariolatry of Rome. 
In short, it was the sense that I had left Jesus 
behind me (so to speak) in the Church of England, 
that drove me to her communion again. I felt 



THE TEST APPLIED. 7 1 

that Mary, with all her blessedness, was a poor, 
poor exchange for the unfathomable love of 
Jesus. And search where I would, I could not 
find him in the devotions of the Koman Catholic 
Church, except in the background/' 

If sanctity is an attribute of the true church, 
surely the Church of Rome will have a difiBcult 
task in making good her high claims. The third 
mark of the true church given by Romish writers 
is that of Catholicity or universality. " Ours is 
the Catholic, that is, the universal church, there- 
fore it must be the true one,'' is their great argu- 
ment. This attribute does indeed belong to the 
true invisible Church of Christ. We are all one 
in him. But this true church has no one com- 
munity on earth, and has no one visible ruler. 
The Romish Church proudly claims the title 
** Catholic" for herself, and thus assumes the 
very point in discussion. But if universal, why 
does she not include us ? How is it, that beyond 
her pale, there are millions of truly pious souls, 
serving God, and working to extend his King, 
dom ? The lives of these are, at least, as holy, 



72 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

their word as good, and their deaths as peaceful 
as though they were in communion with the 
Church of Home. The Church of Home is no 
more entitled to the name Catholic, than the 
Greek Church, the Church of England, or the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. A part cannot be 
the whole. But let our opponents speak for 
themselves. " The true church is Catholic : or 
Universal in three several respects : as to persons^ 
as to places^ and as to time. It consists of the 
most numerous body of Christians ; it is more or 
less diffused^ wherever Christianity prevails : and 
it has visibly existed ever since the time of the 
apostles^ — End of Controversy, page 179. 

Let us look at the three points named : Eirst, 
the Romish Church is Catholic, because it con- 
sists of the '* most numerous body of Christians.'' 
In other words it consists of the '^ most numerous 
body of Christians ^''^ therefore it includes all the 
Christians. Glorious logic I Second, it is more or 
less diffused wherever Christianity prevails. But 
the same may be said of the Presbyterian, 
Baptist, or Methodist Episcopal Church. We 



THE TEST APPLIED. 73 

are all -'more or less diffused wherever Chris- 
tianity prevails :'' and are pushing out daily into 
regions where it does not prevail. Third, '* it 
has visibly existed ever since the time of the apos- 
tles. ^^ In the second chapter of this book, the 
reader will find this point examined. It has there 
been shown that Romanisn is a great apostacy, a 
gradual corruption of Christian truth. The apos- 
tles knew as little about the teachings of Roman- 
ism, as Romanists seem to know about the teach- 
ings of the apostles. The last testing attribute 
set up by Roman Catholics is that of Apostolicity, 
They mean by this that their Popes form an un- 
broken succession from the days of Peter to the 
present time, and that no man has any right to 
exercise sacred functions, unless he derives his 
commissions through the Papal See. In proof of 
this they exhibit a curious list of the Popes, begin- 
ning with St. Peter and ending with Pius IX. 
We intend in a future chapter to give this subject 
a full discussion. Let it suffice to remark here 
that except to a few high-churchmen in the 
Church of England and Protestant Episcopal 



74 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

Church in this country, this boasted apostolic 
chair is a universal laughing stock. John Wesley- 
was for many years inclined to high-church 
views: but after a careful investigation of the 
subject, he was compelled to admit that ^'Apos- 
tolic Succession is a fiction which no man ever did 
or can prove,^' But on this subject more anon. 
Rome is thus condemned by her own assumptions. 
We can turn her weapons against her, and by the 
tests that she lays down, show that she is not the 
true Church of Christ. 




CHAPTER VI. 

THE GEEAT USUKPER. 

" WTio opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, 
or that is worshiped ; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, 
shewing himself that he is God.^"* — 2 Thes. ii., 4. 

XnVERY system of faith has its great central 
head : the source from which it emanates^ 
and the recognized authority in all matters 
of dispute. Romanism has such a central 
head. What Christ is to the Christian, Mo- 
hammed to the believer in the Koran, Brahma to 
the Hindoo, or Brigham Young to the Mormon, 
the Pope is to the Roman Catholic. His devo- 
tion is directed to Rome rather than to Bethlehem 
or Calvary. The power of the Pope in spiritual 
matters is regarded as supreme : and as the inter- 
ests of the soul are superior to the interests of 
the body, he is supposed by many Romanists to 
have supreme power over states and princes. 



7^ THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

He is the great Head of the Church, and from 
his infallible teaching there can be no appeal. 
He is the Vicar of Christ, and carries the keys 
of Heaven and Hell. He is called by the most 
blasphemous of titles, blasphemous because they 
belong of right only to Diety : and is approached 
with the most abject adoration. His blessing is 
sought as the greatest of boons, while his curse 
is supposed to convey unnumbered woes. Such 
are the views, and such the practice of the Ro- 
mish Church on this subject. 

It is well known that these enormous claims of 
power and dominion, are built up on the sup- 
posed supremacy of St. Peter, and on the as- 
sumption that each reigning Pope is his direct 
successor. We propose to show that Peter 
neither claimed nor exercised any supremacy over 
the other disciples : and that if he did, the Pope 
cannot prove that he is his successor. The pas- 
sage on which Romanists base their high claims 
for the Papacy is Matt, xvi., 18-19. ^'And I 
say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this 
rock I will build my church, and the gates of 



THE GREAT USURPER. 77 

Hell shall not prevail against it. And I will 
give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of 
Heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on 
earth, shall be bound in Heaven ; and whatsoever 
thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in 
Heaven.^^ On this text the entire superstructure 
of Papal dominion has been erected. The keys 
and the rock is their unfailing argument. From 
the bold and decided manner in which they con- 
tinually quote these words, one would not be led 
to suppose that the argument derived from them 
and the false meaning ascribed to them, had 
been exposed and refuted a thousand times. 
Yet, such is the fact. We must use Scripture to 
explain Scripture. A concordance is often better 
than a commentary. The verses preceding the 
text in dispute, furnish a key to its successful in- 
terpretation. 

'' When Jesus came into the coasts of Cesarea 
Phillippi, he asked his disciples, saying : Whom 
do men say that I, the Son of Man, am ? And 
they said : Some say that thou art John the 
Baptist; some Elias, and others Jeremiah, or one 



j8 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom 
say ye that I am ? And 8imon Peter answered 
and said : Thou art the Christ, the Son of the 
living God. And Jesus answered and said unto 
him : Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, for flesh 
and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my 
Father which is in heaven. And I say unto 
thee, that thou art Peter,^' etc. Now, what is the 
rock ? All hinges on this. Is it Peter, or the 
glorious confession of our Lord^s Divinity, that 
Peter had just made ? We think that it is the 
latter. 

1. The Greek word petros or Peter does not 
mean a rock, but a stone, or little piece of a rock ; 
but petra (of which our Lord says, " Upon this 
petra I will build my church,^') does mean a 
rock. Now a real rock is superior to a mere 
stone, or a little piece of the rock. Ag2iiu, petros 
is a masculine noun, but petra is feminine. How 
then can Peter be referred to as the rock on 
which the church is built? He cannot be the 
rock, and yet only a small piece of the rock at 
the same time. 



THE GREAT USURPER. 7g 

2. Christ is, in other passages, expressly de- 
clared to be the foundation or rock on which the 
church is built. '* For other foundation can no 
man lay than that is laid, which is Christ Jesus." 
1 Cor. iii., 11. 

3. A rock implies courage and immovability^ 
when employed as a metaphor: but Peter was 
proverbially impulsive and fickle. The gates of 
hell so far prevailed against him, that he denied 
his Master with oaths and curses. Through fear of 
the Jews, he also refused to mingle at Antioch with 
the Gentile converts, and was openly withstood to 
the face by Paul, '^ Because he was to be blam- 
ed." So much for the rock. Now, what about 
the keys ? Why, our Lord gave them to Peter. 
The Bible says so, and that is enough for us Pro- 
testants. " And I will give unto thee the keys of 
the Kingdom of Heaven," This is one of the few 
passages that Eoman Catholics are willing to ad- 
mit is easy to be understood. But, what are 
keys for ? Why, to unlock and open a door is 
one of the uses to which they may be put ; and 
the only other use that I ever heard of is to lock 



80 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

it again. Well, to which use did Peter put the 
keys ? *' He opened the Kingdom of Heaven, 
that is, the Gospel Church, or Christian dispensa- 
tion, to both Jews and Gentiles. He preached the 
first sermon, and was the instrument of making 
the first converts among each. With one key he 
opened the Kingdom of Heaven to the Jews, and 
with the other to the Gentiles. This was a dis- 
tinction conferred on Peter, it is true; but' it was 
necessary that some one of the twelve should 
begin the business of preaching the Gospel. The 
whole twelve could not turn the keys and open 
the doors.^^ — JYevins on Popery, page 45. But 
who has the power of the keys now ? Why no 
one. What could they do with the keys if they 
had them? Peter opened the door, and it is 
never to be closed. If a door is unlocked and 
opened, and is never to be shut again, who cares 
what becomes of the keys ? But Roman Catho- 
lics say that those keys signify the authority con- 
ferred on the Church, and especially on the 
Popes. The keys have been passed along from 
one to another, until they have reached old Pius 



THE GREAT USURPER. 8 1 

IX., making each Pope the door-keeper of 
heaven. But where is the Scripture warrant for 
such claims ? Simply, nowhere. We challenge 
any one to find it. Christ will attend to that 
matter himself. ** He that hath the key of David, 
he that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth 
and no man openeth,^' is not the Pope, but 
Christ. — Rev. iii., 7. 

So much for the keys. The poor Pope can get. 
no more comfort from them than he does from 
the rock. Now, one more point remains to be 
considered, namely : the power of binding and 
loosing. This power was conferred on Peter, it 
is true ; but not on him alone. It was conferred 
on the entire twelve. In Matt, xviii., 18, Christ 
addressed them as a body, and says : " Yerily I 
say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth 
shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever ye 
shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.'^ 
The meaning of this declaration is not difficult to 
understand. In the Jewish language, to bind 
and loose were words made use of by the Rabbi ; 
to signify the lawfulness or unlawfulness of 



82 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

things. Whatsoever, then, the disciples, as the 
inspired teachers of the Church, should declare 
to be forbidden to men on the earth, should be 
forbidden by heaven, and whatsoever they should 
permit to be done, should be lawful in the • sight . 
of heaven. This power, however, belongs only 
to the apostles, and no more to Peter than to all 
the rest. Peter never claimed any supremacy 
over his brethren. He suffered himself to be 
openly rebuked by Paul. He wrote two encycli- 
cal or general epistles ; but they bear no resem- 
blance to those issued by Pius IX., or any other 
of those claiming to be St. Peter^s successors. 

He commences his epistle " Peter, an Apostle 
of Jesus Christ." Why, what is the matter with 
the man ? He claims no supremacy whatever 
over his brethren, for Paul frequently began his 
epistles in the same way. Why does he not say, 
»« Peter, Primate of the Apostolical College, 
Supreme and Infallible Head of the Church," 
etc. ? This would be somewhat in the style of a 
modern Pope. But in the first verse of the fifth 
chapter of his first letter, we find a still stronger 



THE GREAT USURPER. 83 

declaration : *' The elders which are among you I 
exhort, who am also an elder.'^ I do not wonder 
that while the letters and speeches of Pius IX. 
may be read by any one. the two letters of 
Peter (Pope Peter, they would say,) cannot be 
read by a Roman Catholic layman, without the 
addition of notes and comments. I do not 
wonder that while the letters and bulls of Pius 
IX. may be understood by anybody, that while 
private interpretation is allowed here, the church 
and tradition can alone explain the letters of 
poor Peter. But Peter was inspired by the Holy 
Ghost. All admit this. To what conclusion 
then are we driven ? Why, that Peter with in- 
spiration, is a poorer and more careless writer 
than Pius IX. and all other Popes are without it ! 
What an absurd and blasphemous doctrine. 

We are not through with this matter of the 
first Pope yet. Peter was married. This is bad 
for a Pope. Not even a common priest in the 
Romish Church, dare take a wife. But there can 
be no mistake about the case of Peter. The 
New Testament tells us that his wife's mother 



84 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

was very ill with a fever, and that Jesus restored 
her to health. If she had only died, there would 
have been no trouble. I wonder if Roman 
Catholics do not wish that she had died. 
Eomanists tell us that Peter did not live with his 
wife, after he became Pope : but the Bible gives 
us no such intelligence. The Roman Catholic 
Church tells us that it is indebted to tradition for 
this precious piece of information. Now, it is 
very nice to have tradition to appeal to. It is 
such a dim, shadowy thing, that if it were 
asserted that tradition teaches us that the moon . 
is made of green cheese, it would be difficult to 
directly disprove it. But we Protestants are 
cruel enough to fling tradition aside, and keep 
the discussion centered around the Bible. Peter 
then was a married man, and lived with his wife 
like a respectable Christian. Some may be un- 
reasonable enough to think that this is much bet- 
ter, than to live as many of the Popes have 
done, in sinful relation to the wives of others. 
You see when a man leaves the infallible churchy 
there is no telling what queer notions he may 



THE GREAT USURPER. 85 

entertain. Again, the Pope must reside at 
Rome : but we have no good reason to believe 
that Peter ever saw the city of Rome. The 
Bible tells us nothing about it. So they fall 
back on tradition again. Tradition says that 
Peter was Bishop of Rome, and that he died in 
that city. In the words of an eminent author, 
we think that : ^* Tradition must be treated as a 
notorious liar, to whom we give no credit, unless 
what he says is confirmed by some one in whom 
we can rely. If it be affirmed by him alone, we 
must suspend our belief until we obtain better 
testimony." The story of Peter's visit to Rome 
is mixed up with so much absurdity, as to utterly 
destroy our faith in the whole transaction. We 
are told, for instance, that he went there chiefly 
to oppose Simon, the magician. That at their 
first meeting, Simon flew up into the air, in the 
sight of the whole city : that the Devil, frightened 
by the name of Jesus, let him fall to the ground, 
by which fall he broke his legs, and so on, 
ad nauseum. They will show you to-day in Rome, 
the place where Peter kneeled on the occasion, 



86 



THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 



and a stone marked with the blood of Simon. 
We must receive a hundred such stories, if we 
admit Peter to have been at Rome, for they all rest 
on the same authority. We will conclude what 
we have to say on the supremacy of Peter, by 
adducing some more Scripture testimony on the 
subject. We deem this a better guide than tradi- 
tion. We read of a strife among the apostles as 
to who among them should be greatest. '^ And 
there was also a strife among them, which of 
them should be accounted the greatest. And he 
said unto them, the kings of the Gentiles exercise 
lordship over them ; and they that exercise 
authority upon them are called benefactors. But 
ye shall not be so : but he that is greatest among 
you, let him be as the younger, and he that is 
chief as he that doth serve.'^ (Luke xxii., 24, 25, 
26.) Three questions at once occur, which we 
will leave Romanists to answer. First, if our 
Lord, by the figure of the rock and keys, had just 
given the supremacy to Peter, why should there 
be any dispute among the apostles, as to who 
should be chief? Second, why did not our Lord 



THE GREAT USURPER. 87 

answer plainly that Peter should be chief, if such 
was his design ? Third, how does the statement 
of our Lord, as to the lack of lordship and 
authority among the disciples, agree with the 
claims of the Papacy ? 

Several events in the history of the early 
Christian Church, as recorded in the Acts of the 
Apostles, are very difficult to understand, if 
Peter was the first Pope. 

First, Peter in company with John, was sent to 
the newly converted Church in Samaria by the 
other apostles. " Now when the apostles which 
were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had re- 
ceived the Word of God, they sent unto them 
Peter and John.^' — Acts viii., 14. 

This looks bad for Peter's supremacy. He 
must have forgotten about the keys. 

Second, The Church did not receive with un- 
questioned faith the teaching of Peter. 

On the contrary : '* When Peter was come up 
to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision 
contended with him, saying : Thou wentest in to 
men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them. 



bo THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

But Peter rehearsed the matter from the begin- 
ning, and expounded it by order unto them.^' — 
Acts xi., 2-4. This looks worse yet. They 
" contended " with Peter. Now, surely, he will 
flourish the keys, and fall back on infallibility. 
Not a bit of it. He does not even pronounce 
them " Anathema^^ but " rehearsed the matter 
from the beginning, and expounded it by order 
unto them.'' Well, they certainly had better 
success than some of their fellow-heretics in after 
ages. Poor Luther was excommunicated, Huss 
was burned, the body of Wickliff was dug up 
and given to the flames, and all for '^ contend- 
ing '' with those who claim to be the literal suc- 
cessors of St. Peter. 

Third, The first General Council of the 
Church was held at Jerusalem. Peter made a 
speech, but James presided, and pronounced the 
decision. See the fifteenth chapter of Acts. 
Verily, the Bible is a hard book to understand, 
if we must reconcile it to the claims and teach- 
ings of Romanism. •* Let us hear the conclusion 
of the whole matter.'' 



THE GREAT USURPER. 8^ 

First, Christ never declared Peter to have 
any supremacy over his brethren. 

Second, Peter never claimed or exercised any 
such supremacy ; for he simply calls himself an 
apostle and elder, suffered Paul to openly with- 
stand him, allowed the Church to call in question 
his teaching, was sent by his brethren to Sama- 
ria, and did not preside in the Council in Jerusa- 
lem. 

Third, He was a married man. 

Fourth, We have no reason to believe that he 
ever saw the city of Rome, much less established 
there the Papal See. ' 

Fifth, The power claimed for him and his sup- 
posed successors by the Romish Church, is in 
direct conflict with the teachings of our Saviour 
as to the spiritual nature of his Kingdom, and the 
purity of his ministers. 

We now propose to show that even if Peter 
did have any supremacy over his brethren, it 
cannot be proved that the Popes are his succes- 
sors. This can soon be done. We are well 
aware that a long list of Popes, extending from 



go THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

Peter to Pius IX., is exhibited in triumph by the 
Romish Church. This looks very convincing. 
If naughty Protestants only would cease to ques- 
tion and examine everything, and trust to tradi- 
tion and the Infallible Church — there would be 
no more trouble. What is the use of infallibility 
if you have to stop and prove everything? They 
might as well be without it. Suppose we look at * 
this boasted chain a little. Somehow we have 
contracted a very bad habit of looking into mat- 
ters and things for ourselves, and feel very little 
fear of papal curses. One thing must be remem- 
••bered about this chain. To be of any value it 
must be complete. If a single link is broken, the 
chain is of no more use. Well, then, if Peter was 
the first Pope, who succeeded him ? Who was 
the second Pope ? 5"^. Clement, say some ; 5"^. 
Linvs, say others. All start off with Peter, but 
the very next step is uncertain. The fathers do 
not agree about it. Turtullian says that St. Cle- 
ment succeeded Peter; while other fathers be- 
stow this honor on St. Linus. Now, we cannot, 
according to the Church of Rome, explain a 



THE GREAT USURPER. 9 1 

single passage of the Scripture, unless we have the 
unanimous consent of the holy fathers. Now, 
suppose we apply the same rule to this papal 
chain. It is a poor rule that will not work in 
more than one way. Have not things come to a 
pretty pass ? The very first link in this chain is 
broken. No one can tell who was the second 
Pope. We might go on and show that the way 
grows darker and darker as we advance ; but we 
will wait until they find the " missing link.^' It 
might seem cruel to keep up the investigation. 
The Church of Rome has a doctrine called " in- 
tention,'' that casts a still deeper gloom about 
this chain. If in administering a sacrament, the 
administrator intends to bestow the grace, it is 
accomplished, no matter what the character of 
the recipient. If, on the other hand, the admin- 
istrator does not intend to bestow the grace, it is 
withheld, in the same strange and arbitrary man- 
ner. Now, suppose we knew that St. Clement 
and not St. Jjinus, or St. Linus and not St. Cle- 
ment, succeeded St. Peter ; suppose the historic 
character of this famous chain is all right, how 



92 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

are we to know that each reigning Pope was a 
literal successor of St. Peter ? For if in ordain- 
ing a Pope, the administrator did not intend to 
ordain, the matter was not accomplished, and the 
poor man was no Pope after all. This makes 
^' confusion worse confounded. ^^ It has been 
shown in a previous chapter that the boasted 
succession has frequently been interrupted by 
vacations and schisms. It has frequently been 
decreed by councils, that all those ordinations 
are null and void, in which the person to be or- 
dained secured his elevation by fraud or bribery. 
Now, we know that the popedom has often been 
obtained by just such, unfair means. Here, then, 
is another way in which succession has been in- 
terrupted. According to the Romish doctrine, 
no heretic can transmit episcopal or priestly 
power to another. This looks bad for the suc- 
cession, as many of the Popes have been heretics. 
Pope Libreius was an Arian ; Anastasius was a 
Nestorian ; Honorius was a Monothelite ; John 
XX. taught that the souls of the pious, when re- 
leased from the body, would not see God before 



THE GREAT USURPER. 93 

the Day of Judgment ; John XXIII. believed 
that the soul died with the body. This is afiBrm- 
ed of him by the Council of Constance. Many 
of the Popes have been men of the vilest charac- 
ter. 

Can we believe that God would call such men 
to preside over his Church, and teach his truth ? 
Monstrous ! Roman Catholics themselves admit 
that one-tenth of the Popes have disgraced the 
oflBce. Alas for this boasted chain! It is broken 
at a hundred points, and all covered with rust and 
blood. Well has Bishop Janes said : '' He who 
would trace his ecclesiastical pedigree up to the 
chair of Peter, must wade through slime and blood 
to his very neck." We will now conclude what 
we have to say on this branch of the subject, by 
summing up our reasons for refusing to believe in 
this boasted succession. 

1. The list of reigning Popes presented by 
the Church of Rome has no historic value. 

2. The successions has been interrupted by 
long and repeated vacations. 

3. And also by violent and frequent schisms. 



94 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

4. According to the doctrine of '' intention," 
many of those occupying the papal throne, may 
never have been ordained to the oflBce. 

5. Many of the Popes have been heretics, 
and according to the Romish Church, no heretic 
can properly transmit priestly or episcopal 
power. 

6. Many of the Popes have obtained the office 
by fraud and bribery ; and this, according to the 
views of our opponents, is enough to render their 
ordination void. 

7. Many of the Popes have been men of vile 
character. 




CHAPTER VTL 

THE MASS. 
" Teaching for doctrines the commandments of menP — Matt, xv., 9. 

T TAYING cleared away the false rules of 
faith and practice, adopted by the Romish 
Church, and established our right to read and 
understand the Bible, and argue from it alone : 
having shown by their own tests, that the Romish 
corporation is not the true Church of Christ, and 
demonstrated the unreliable nature of their 
boasted succession: we are now prepared to 
examine their false teachings and corrupt doings 
in the light of God's holy word. We will begin 
with what they are pleased to term the Mass. 
The word is not in the Bible. They had to 
invent it. If you went to one of their churches 
when they were celebrating mass, you would 
hardly think that it was intended to represent 



96 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

the humble scene in the little upper chamber at 
Jerusalem, or in other words, that it was the 
Lord^s Supper, True, they have the bread (in the 
form of a wafer, but we let that pass,) and the 
wine : but here the resemblance ceases. They, 
however, do not regard it as bread and wine ; 
but as the body and bloody soul and divinity of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. This they eat and drink. 
Surely, this must be a Protestant misrepresenta- 
tion. No, here it is in the catechism : 

'' Q. What is the holy eucharist ? A. It is a 
sacrament, which contains the body and blood, 
soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, under the forms 
and appearance of bread and wine. 

" Q, Is it not bread and wine which is first put 
upon the altar for the celebration of mass? A. 
Yes ; it is always bread and wine till the priest 
pronounces the words of consecration during 
mass. 

" ^. What happens by these words ? A. The 
bread is changed into the body of Jesus Christ,- 
and the wine into his blood. 

«' Q. What is this change called ? A. It is 



THE MASS. 97 

called transubstantiation, that is to say, a change 
of one substance into another." 

This is the doctrine taught to every Roman 
Catholic child in the country. And all this is 
founded on the simple words of Jesus : " This is 
my body." True, he right after, called the wine, 
(which Romanists say is his blood) the " fruit of 
the vine f and Paul in his first epistle to the 
Corinthians calls the bread, bread, and not the 
" body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus 
Christ." True, Christ is in other places called 
a rock, a door, a vine, ('* 1 am the door/^ " 1 am 
the vine." "That rock was Christ,") thus plainly 
showing that the words ^* this is my body," are 
to be taken figuratively ; true, we can still see 
after the mystic words of consecration, that it is 
bread and wine, and not body and blood : but 
what are Scripture or reason when they conflict 
with the teaching of the Church of Rome ? The 
body of Christ is said to be entire in each particle 
of the sacred host. To state this absurd and 
blasphemous doctrine is its best refutation. It 
is simply incapable of belief Yet it has been 



98 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

called the burning article in the Church of Borne. 
Thousands have been burned and tortured 
because they would not believe it. But we are 
not through with the enormities of the mass. 
After professing to turn the bread and wine into 
Jesus Christ, (this is simply a shorter way of 
stating it) the priest claims to oflfer him up in 
sacrifice. This they call the ^' unbloody sacrifice 
of the mass.'^ This is no Protestant slander. 
Read the canons of the Council of Trent on this 
subject : 

•' Canon 1. If any one shall say, that a true 
and proper sacrifice is not offered to God in the . 
mass ; or that what is to . be offered is nothing 
else than giving Christ to eat: let him be 
accursed. Canon 2. If any one shall say, that 
by these words < Do this for a commemoration of 
me,' Christ did not appoint his apostles priests, 
or did not ordain that they and other priests 
should offer his body and blood : let him be 
accursed." 

Is not this in direct violation of the oft-made 
declaration of Scripture, that Jesus was once 



THE MASS. 99 

offered, and then completed the work of human 
redemption? Does it not give the lie to the 
dying words of Jesus ? He declared that it was 
finished. Rome says, it has been going on ever 
since, and will continue to the end of time. 
Then " an unbloody sacrifice/^ does not agree 
very well with the declaration of Scripture that 
*' without shedding of blood is no remission." 
Cain offered an " unbloody sacrifice,^' but there 
was no divine recognition of it. He went forth, 
however, to slay his brother, and so has Roman- 
ism, with its "unbloody sacrifice," more than 
once stained its altars with the blood of heretics. 
According to the Romish doctrine Christ has 
been offered millions of times. A little, ignorant 
priest can cause the Saviour of the World to be 
offered whenever he pleases. The sacrifice 
on Calvary is not enough. We are prepared 
now to hear of almost any absurdity in connec- 
tion with the mass ; and need not wonder to hear 
that Roman Catholics worship the consecrated 
wafer. Yes, they actually fall down and wor- 
ship it. The priest lifts it up to the people, and 



lOO THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

cries, ^'Ecce Agnus Dei, qui tollit mundi peccata — 
Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin 
of the worlds The congregation fall down and 
worship it, crying, " Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea 
maxima culpa — My fault, my fault, my very great 
faulty Then they walk up and eat it. Do the very 
heathen go ahead of this ? Did ever a heathen 
make a god, consecrate him, worship him, and then 
turn around and eat him ? They tell us that it 
is not the wafer they worship, but that the wafer 
has been turned into the blessed Saviour. We 
have just shown that this is impossible. In fact, it 
needs no showing. There it is, still a wafer. If 
we cannot believe our senses, we cannot believe 
anything. They think that it is the blessed 
Saviour ; but then that does not make it so, or 
exempt them from the charge of idolatry. All 
idolatry is founded on ignorance. This moreover 
is willful ignorance. All they have to do is to 
believe their senses. 

One more folly remains to be considered in 
relation to this subject. The Church of Rome 
withholds the cup from the laity. This was 



THE MASS. lOI 

done by the Council of Trent. All admit that 
before this, the laity communed in both kinds. 
Now the poor layman can only have half a sacra- 
ment, or really no sacrament whatever. It is 
true that Christ administered it in both kinds, 
and the early Church did the same, and we never 
hear of a divided sacrament before the Council 
of Trent ; but what are these trifles to an Infalli- 
ble Church ? See what a vast change Romanism 
has made in the simple and beautiful sacraments 
of the Lord^s Supper. Five fearful changes have 
been made. 

First, The doctrine of transubstantiation has 
been invented. 

Second, They pretend to offer up Christ. 

Third, They use a wafer instead of bread. 

Fourth, They worship this wafer. 

Fifth, They withhold the cup from the laity. 

Surely this is a terrible record. 1 would love 
to have two pictures painted and placed side by 
side : one representing the simple scene in the 
little upper chamber, when Christ instituted the 
Last Supper; and the other representing mass 



102 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

as performed in a Romish Church. We might 
well say, "Look on this picture, and then on 
that.^' I would love to see the man who could 
trace any connection or resemblance between the 
two. If this was the only corruption introduced 
by the Koman Catholic Church, it were enough 
to sink her forever, like a mill-stone, beneath the 
waves of the sea. But we shall find much more 
to excite holy indignation, ere we finish our inves- 
tigation of her abominations. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

CONFESSIOIsr. 

^^ Every crime, as I have stated before, which the Romish Church 
sanctions, and almost all the immortalities of its members, either orig- 
nate in or have some connection with Auricular Confession.''^ — Ho- 
GAN. 

"TT is a peculiar feature in the economy of Ro- 
manism, that it perverts and misguides ele- 
ments in human nature, that originally are good 
and beneficial. For instance, it is natural for a 
soul, when burdened beneath a load of sin and 
guilt, to confess this sin and misery, and to cry 
out, " God be merciful to me, a sinner.^' The 
Romish Church, at this point, comes in between 
the soul and its Saviour, and sends the trembling 
sinner to the priest ; to him his sins must be con- 
fessed, and through him pardon must be received. 
All this sounds very strange to Protestant 
ears, yet it is the unchanging doctrine, and daily 



I04 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

practice of the Roman Catholic Church. We 
prefer to state their doctrines in the language of 
their own standards, that none may charge us 
with unfairness or misrepresentation. It is diffi- 
cult to state fairly the views of an opponent, 
unless you do it in his own language. 

Well, here it is: *' Whoever shall affirm that 
the confession of every sin, according to the cus- 
toms of the Church, is impossible, and merely a 
human tradition, which the pious should reject; 
or that all Christians, of both sexes, are not 
bound to observe the same once a year, accord- 
ing to the constitution of the great Council of 
Lateran; and, therefore, that the faithful in 
Christ are to be persuaded not to confess in Lent, 
Let him be accursed.^' — Council of Trent de- 
crees. Canon 8, Sess, xiv. 

If these confessions were made to God, we 
would interpose no objection (though what man 
could recount and specify every sin that he had 
ever committed ?) ; but they are made to a priest, 
a fellow-man, ^fellow-sinner. We all admit that 
sin should be confessed ; but common sense would 



CONFESSION. 105 

indicate that the confession should be made to 
the Being offended. We do not read of any one 
in the Bible who confessed his sins to a priest ; 
David confessed to God. •' I acknowledge my 
sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have 1 not hid ; I 
said, I will confess my transgressions unto the 
Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.^' 
— - Psa. xxxii., 5. He adds, moreover: ^' For 
this (the forgiveness of sin) shall every one that 
is godly pray unto thee,» in a time when thou 
mayest be found.'^ 

If David confessed to God, why not any other 
sinner ? If Isaiah, Job, Daniel, Paul, Peter, and 
the poor publican confessed to God, why may not 
we? We object, then, to auricular confession, 
that it has no foundation in Scripture. We do 
not read that any of the apostles established a 
confessional. It has been said that we read of 
no one in the Bible, who confessed to a priest. 
We forgot about- Judas Iscariot, He did not go 
to God with his confession, but to the chief 
priests. He also took moneys thirty pieces of sil- 
ver. We will not investigate the case of Judas 
10 



I06 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

any farther. The Romanists are welcome to all 
the comfort and support they can get from it. 1 
know that the Romanists quote the well-known 
passage, " Confess your faults one to another ; '' 
but this implies something mutual. It bears not 
the smallest resemblance to confession as prac- 
ticed in the Romish Church. Does the priest turn 
around and confess to his parishioners ? If not, 
how can it be called confessing " one to another?" 
Auricular confession is an insult to Christ. He 
is the great, the only Mediator between God and 
man. Why, then, need the priest interfere ? 
Christ says to men, '^ Come unto me ; '^ but Rome 
says : " You must go to the priest ; he is to you 
in the place of God.'' We object to Romish 
confession, ♦that it is absurd. 

I have not sinned against the priest, but against 
God. If a child should sin against his father, 
would he go to a neighbor with his confession ; or 
to make the illustration stronger, would he go to 
a brother, who had sinned equally with himself? 
Suppose they confess to each other, and forgive 
each other, will that satisfy the father ? Roman- 



CONFESSION. 1 07 

ists tell us that parties must repent before they 
can obtain absolution ; that the priest cannot for- 
give them until they do repent ; well, if they sin- 
cerely repent, will not God forgive them, and 
then who cares whether the priest forgives or 
not? At the very best, auricular confession is 
useless. Facts, with which every one ought to 
be acquainted, compel us to urge another objec- 
tion against confession. It is immoral in its ten- 
dencies and results. As Romanists stoutly deny 
this, and urge the contrary, we will take special 
pains to prove it. It produces immorality both 
in the confessor and in the confessed. It pro- 
duces immorality in the confessor. The mind of 
the priest becomes a sink for the reception and 
retention of all sorts of moral corruption. He 
must listen month after month, and year after 
year, to the most disgusting details of all sorts of 
vice. Old men and children, young men and 
maidens, must pour into his attentive ear, a reci- 
tal of their thoughts, desires, and most secret 
sins. This, surely, cannot have a very refining 
or sanctifying influence. 



io8 



THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 



Then the secrets of the confessional must never 
be divulged. The priest must carry them for- 
ever in his own bosom. Rather than reveal any- 
thing made known in confession, he must stoop to 
lying and perjury. Here is the proof: Peter 
Den, in his Theology, which is the class-book in 
Maynooth College, in Ireland, and in other Ro- 
mish schools, has the following, on the duty of 
confessions, in this respect : '* Can a case be given 
in which it is lawful to break the secrecy of the 
confession ? Answer : None can be given ; al- 
though the life or salvation of a man, or the 
destruction of the commonwealth, would depend 
thereon. What, then, ought a confessor to answer 
when interrogated respecting any truth which he 
knows only by sacramental confession ? Answer : 
He ought to answer that he does not know it; 
and, if necessary, to confirm that by an oath. 
Obj, It is not lawful to lie in any case ; but the 
confessor lies, because he knows the truth ; there- 
fore, he ought not to confirm by an oath that which 
is not true, Ans. The minor proposition is de- 
nied ; because such confessor is interroirated as a 



CONFESSION. 1 09 

man, and answers as a man, but he does not know 
this truth as man, though he knows it as God.'' 

Is not this beautiful morality ? What must be 
the effect of such teaching and such practice on 
the minds of father confessors ? 

This confession to the priest, it must be re- 
membered, is not a general one ; but must all be 
given in detail. To do this, a long list of ques- 
tions has been prepared. Bach commandment 
(except the second, the Church of Rome has re- 
moved this from the decalogue, for reasons which 
we shall understand hereafter,) is gone over in 
turn. The most minute, and in some cases, dis- 
gusting questions are asked. 1 dare not pollute 
these pages with the list of questions asked on 
the sixth (our seventh) commandment. If the 
reader wishes to see them, he is referred to the 
" Garden of the Soul,'' a book published under 
the recommendation of the late Archbishop 
Hughes. This confession is always made in pri- 
vate, often by young and fair women, to men 
devoted by their ordination vows to a life of celib- 
acy. The fair penitent kneels before the priest, 



I lO THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

a man of flesh, and blood, and passion. Her 
warm breath is upon his cheek. Into his ears 
she pours her most secret thoughts and desires. 
Nothing must be concealed. Could the devil 
himself invent anything better suited to ruin 
both soul and body? History is not silent on 
this subject : ** In Spain, Pope Paul IV. uttered 
his bull against the crime of solicitants, or of 
those priests who, in the act of confession, solicit 
the person confessing to indecent acts. When 
this bull was introduced into Spain, every person 
who had been solicited was instructed, within 
thirty days, to report to the inquisitions. So 
great was the number of females who went to the 
palace of the inquisitor in the city of Seville only, 
to reveal the conduct of their infamous confes- 
sors, that twenty notaries, and as many inquisitors, 
were appointed to note down their several infor- 
mations. But these being found insufficient, sev- 
eral periods of thirty days was appointed, and 
the matter was finally given up, and the whole 
matter terminated where it began. ^' — Elliott on 
Romanism^ Vol. 11. j page 323. 



CONFESSION. I I I 

This is a picture of Eomish morality as devel- 
oped in the confessional, that may well make 
every lover of his land and his kind tremble with 
alarm. 

I will conclude this branch of my subject by 
giving some extracts from the writings of the 
Rev. L. J. Nolan, once a popish priest, but now 
a Protestant minister : " During the last three 
years that I discharged the duties of a Romish 
clergyman, my heart often shuddered at the idea 
of entering the confessional. The thoughts of 
the many crimes I had to hear; the growing 
doubt upon my mind that confession was an erro- 
neous doctrine, that it tended more to harden 
than to reclaim the heart, and that through it 
1 should be rendered instrumental in ministering 
destruction to souls, were often considerations to 
me in the hours of my reflection. The recitals of 
the murderous acts I had often heard through 
this iniquitous tribunal, had cost me many a rest- 
less night, and are still fixed with horror in my 
memory. But the most awful of all considera- 
tion is this, that through the confessional 1 had 



I 12 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

been frequently apprised of intended assassina- 
tions and most diabolical conspiracies, and still 
from the ungodly injunctions of secrecy in the 
Romish creed, lest, as Peter Den says, ' the con- 
fessional should become odious,^ I dared not give 
the slightest intimation to the marked-out victims 
of slaughter. But though my heart now trem- 
bles at the recollections of the murderous acts, 
still duty obliges me to proceed and enumerate 
one or two instances of the cases alluded to. 
The first is the case of a person who was barbar- 
ously murdered, and with whose intended assas- 
sination I became acquainted at confession. One 
of the five conspirators (all of whom were sworn to 
commit the horrid deed,) broached to me the 
bloody conspiracy in the confessional. I im- 
plored him to desist from his intentions of becom- 
ing an accomplice in so diabolical a design ; but 
alas ! all advice was useless, no dissuasion could 
prevail; his determination was fixed, and his only 
reason for having disclosed the awful machina- 
tion to his confessor, seemed to have originated 
from a hope that his wicked design would be hal- 



CONFESSION. I 13 

lowed by his previous acknowledgment of it to his 
priest. Finding all my remonstrances unavail- 
ing, 1 then recurred to stratagem. I earnestly 
besought him to mention the circumstances to me 
out of the confessional, in order that 1 might ap- 
prise the intended victim of his danger, or cau- 
tion the conspirators against the committal of so 
inhuman a deed. But here ingenuity itself failed 
in arresting the career of his satanic obstinacy. 
The conspirator's illegal oath, and his apprehen- 
sion of himself becoming the victim of brutal 
assassination, should he be known as the revealer 
of the conspiracy, rendered him inflexible to my 
entreaties ; and awful to relate — yes, awful, and 
the hand that now pens it shudders at the record 
it makes — a poor, inoffensive man, the victim of 
slaughter, died a most cruel death by the hands 
of ruthless assassins.'' 

Mr. Nolan then proceeds to relate a case still 
more heart-rending. All converted Romanists 
agree in regarding the confessional as the citadel 
of popish strength, and the great fountain of her 
moral corruption. It gives the priests and 



I 14 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

bishops an almost absolute control over the peo- 
ple. It is the chain that binds them to the throne 
of papacy. From early childhood, their most 
secret thoughts have been confided to the priests, 
the whole history of their lives have been com- 
mitted to them, and shall they dare to rebel ? 
May God in his mercy soon remove this great 
plague-spot from American soil. 




CHAPTER IX. 

PURGATORY. 

" To-day thou shalt he with me in paradise,^ — LuKE xxiii., 43, 

" The saints who die of Christ possessed, 
Enter into immediate rest ; 
Por them no further test remains, 
Of purging fires and torturing pains." 

0, Wesley, 

"V7"0U will not find the word ^^ purgatory" in 
the Bible. Eome cannot express her doc- 
trines and customs in scriptural language. She 
has been compelled to invent a terminology of 
her own. Mass, rosary, pope, extreme unction, 
chrism, acolyte, and a host of other words, 
very familiar to Romish ears, may be found in a 
dictionary, but not in the Bible. A '* form of 
sound words'' is of great value, but nevertheless, 
if the things themselves could only be found in 



I 1 6 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

the Word of God, we would not object so strongly 
to the use of new terms. But the worst of it is, 
that the doctrines and customs signified by these 
words, cannot be found in the Bible. Thus it is 
with the doctrine of purgatory. The Bible does 
not give it the faintest shadow of support. But 
what is this purgatory, about which we hear so 
much from Romanists, and of which we can find 
no trace in the Bible ? 

It is not Heaven. It is not Hell. They do 
not mean by it, the doctrine of the intermediate 
state, in which so many worthy Protestants 
believe, the place where departed spirits wait 
the resurrection from the dead, and the great day 
of judgment. They believe in purgatory as a 
place where the souls of departed Roman Cath- 
olics go to be purified and prepared for Heaven. 
It is not for Protestants. They must go direct 
to Hell. It is a place of literal fire^ of fearful 
pain, Roman Catholic writers make its torments 
as great and terrible as are those of Hell. But 
then you may escape from purgatory, while in 
Hell there gleams no hope. This seems to be 



PURGATORY. I I 7 

about the only difference. The escape from 
purgatory is helped and hastened by masses and 
prayers offered by the priests. Such is the 
Romish doctrine of purgatory. But we had 
better state it in their own language. In the 
creed drawn up by the Council of Trent, before 
quoted at length, it is stated thus : *' I con- 
stantly hold that there is a purgatory, and that 
the souls therein detained are helped by the 
suffrages of the faithful. '^ Dens, in his Theology, 
says of it : " It is a place in which the souls of 
the pious dead, obnoxious to temporal punish- 
ment, make satisfaction.^' The catechism of the 
Council of Trent gives this rather evasive view 
of it : <' In the fire of purgatory the souls of just 
men are cleansed by a temporal punishment, in 
order to be admitted into their eternal country, 
into which nothing defiled entereth.^' The Douay 
Catechism gives the following short exposition of 
it: 

" Q. Whither go such as die in mortal sin ? 
Ji. To Hell, to all eternity. 

" Q. Whither go such as die in venial sin, or 
11 



I 1 8 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

not having fully satisfied for the punishment due 
to their mortal sins. A. To purgatory, till they 
have made full satisfaction for them, and then to 
Heaven/^ 

Now what foundation has this division of sins 
into mortal and venial sins, this idea of making 
satisfaction for sin by suffering in the world to 
come, in the word of God ? Simply none what- 
ever. Still, the very Devil himself can quote 
Scripture, and we do not wonder, when we learn 
that Romanists make a faint show of defending 
their favorite doctrine from the Bible. It is but 
natural that they should. Protestant teaching 
has inspired so much love and reverence for the 
Bible, that they must for the sake of public 
opinion, make some show of proving their doc- 
trines by it. Even tradition and the fathers are 
not quite enough. So they give us a few pas- 
sages of Scripture. They refer to 1 Cor. iii., 13, 
14, 15. '^ Everyman's work shall be made mani- 
fest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall 
be revealed by fire : and the fire shall try every 
man's work, of what sort it is. If any man's 



PURGATORY. I I 9 

work abide which he hath built thereon, he shall 
receive a reward. If any man's work shall be 
burned, he shall suffer loss : but he himself shall 
be saved, yet so as by fire.'' 

This fire, however, is not as the tire of purga- 
tory is supposed to be, to purify men's souls, but 
to try every man^s work. Every man^s work is 
to be tried : but purgatory is only gotten up for 
the benefit of good Roman Catholics. Poor 
Protestants have no such chance of salvation 
after death. It does not say that persons are 
saved by fire, but only, so as by fire — that is, 
with great diflSculty. By carefully reading the 
text and context, any one may understand this 
beautiful passage of Scripture. " A good man, 
who, on the precious foundation of Jesus Christ, 
builds worthless materials, such as wood, hay, 
stubble, shall suffer the loss of his works, yet he 
himself shall be saved, though with great diflB- 
culty, so as hy fireP — Kevins on Popery^ 'page 155^ 

Matt, v., 25, 26, is urged in favor of purgato- 
ry : '* Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst 
thou art in the way with him ; lest at any time 



I20 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the 
judge deliver thee to the oflBcer, and thou be cast 
into prison. Verily, I say unto thee, thou shalt 
by no means come out thence till thou hast paid 
the uttermost farthing." 

This text has about as much to do with purga- 
tory as the man in the moon. To present a clear 
exposition of it is the very best way to refute 
the false doctrine that has been founded upon it* 
This I will do by quoting from Whedon's inval- 
uable commentary : " The whole is a symbolical 
representation of divine judgment, as is shown 
by the next verse, in which justice without mercy 
is inflexibly declared. The Adversary stands 
for our offended God. Quickly and the way 
stand for the brief period of our probation. The 
Judge is the Son of Man at his coming. The offi- 
cer is the judicial angel. Matt, xxv., 31. The 
prison is HelL Sentiment : repair every wrong 
beibre divine justice inflict punishment to the 
utmost." Is not this exposition clear, simple,, 
beautiful? To what straits must men be reduced 
when they press this text into the service of 



PURGATORY. I 2 I 

purgatory ? The words of Christ concerning the 
sin against the Holy Ghost, are sometimes pressed 
into this controversy by Romanists. '' The blas- 
phemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be for- 
given, neither in this world nor the world to 
come/' — Matt, xii., 32. Does not this, they in- 
quire, imply that there will be forgiveness in the 
world to come ? It implies no such thing. This 
form of expression is simply used to strengthen 
the affirmation. If any one doubts this, let him 
just look at the parallel passages in Mark and 
Luke. 

Mark says, that the blasphemy hath never for- 
giveness, and Luke, that this blasphemy shall not 
be forgiven him. — Mark iii., 29 ; Luke xii., 10. 

Sometimes we are told with a great flourish of 
triumph, that Christ went and preached to the 
spirits in prison, and does hot, they ask, this set- 
tle the question? The reader is referred to 
1 Peter, iii., 18, 19, 20. He will there find, first, 
that this preaching took place ^' in the day of 
Noah, while the ark was a preparing.^' Second, 
that it was '' by the Spirit,' ' that Christ preached. 



122 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

Third, that the persons to whom this preaching 
was sent, was the antediluvians. Fourth, that 
the prison was the earth on which they then 
lived. So clear is it, that this text gives no sup- 
port to the doctrine of purgatory, that a number 
of Roman Catholic writers have themselves given 
it up. We have now examined the texts of 
Scripture put forth in favor of this horrid doc- 
trine. Let us look for a moment at the clear 
Scripture testimony against it. I hardly know 
where to begin, so numerous are the declarations 
of Scripture that bear against the existence of a 
purgatory for departed spirits. Remember, that 
this purgatory is for God's children. The blood 
of Christ is not enough. Sin must be burnt out 
in fire, not washed away in Jesus' blood. Paul 
said : " I am in a strait betwixt two, having a de- 
sire to depart and be with Christ, which is bet- 
ter.'' — Phil, i., 23. This does not look much as 
though he expected to stop in purgatory. 

•' We know that if our earthly house of this 
tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of 
God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the 



PURGATORY. 1 23 

heavens.^^ — 2 Cor. v., 1. Somehow this pas- 
sage does not look much in the direction of pur- 
gatory. In another place we are told that to be 
'^ absent from the body '' is to be '* present with 
the Lord/' Is the Lord in purgatory ? A voice 
from heaven declares that the dead in the Lord 
are blessed, and that they *' rest from their la- 
bours.' ' What kind of rest could a person ob- 
tain if racked by the pains of purgatory ? This 
inquiry might be continued much longer, but 
enough has been presented to show that the Ro- 
mish fiction of purgatory has no foundation in 
Scripture. Prayers for the dead grow out of 
the doctrine of purgatory. This is one of the 
ways by which the unhappy souls escape. If 
they are poor, and have no rich friends to pay for 
masses and prayers, they must remain in purga- 
tory until they suffer enough to atone for their 
sins. But if they have rich friends to see that 
masses are said '' for the repose of their souls,'' 
their departure may be hastened. The priests 
seem to know all about the state of departed souls. 
Else why do they say masses for the repose of a 



124 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

departed soul for a season, and then give the 
matter up? If the soul is not in purgatory, 
these prayers are useless, and had better be 
offered in behalf of some one else. And why do 
they cease saying masses, unless they know that 
the soul is liberated? To do this would be 
cruel. Yet masses are not said forever for the 
repose of a soul. Some only have a mass said at 
the funeral. Others, again, keep it up for several 
months, or a year. All this seems strange. 
Surely, the priests must know when to stop, when 
the soul is liberated. But, then, how do they 
know ? Would it not be awful if they stopped 
too soon, and left the soul in torment ? Another 
curious thing about these prayers for the dead is, 
that they wait so long, sometimes. They do not 
keep right at it, until the work is done. Some- 
times months, and even years, intervene between 
the masses. 

It may be very nice for friends on earth to 
have things done in this quiet, genteel way ; but 
how about the poor soul in purgatory ? I think 
that I should want them to hurry up. 



PURGATORY. I 25 

A very queer thing about these masses for the 
dead is, that they are very often sung. They 
sing for the repose of souls in purgatory. Is not 
that cruel? If you were burning in the fires of 
purgatory, would you think it kind in your 
friends on earth to get together and sing over it? 
Singing expresses joy and mirth. I will mention 
another strange feature in connection with these 
masses. When a Bishop or a Pope dies, they 
say more masses than they do for a common sin- 
ner, and keep it up longer. Now, either the 
priests, bishops and popes are worse than the 
common run of men, or else the Church does not 
care so much for the souls of the poor and un- 
known. I do not care which horn of the dilem- 
ma they select. Now, when we put all these 
queer things together, does it not look as though 
they (I mean the clergy,) do not believe it them- 
selves ? How can they pass each other in the 
street and not laugh ? But it is sad to think of 
the deluded flock. How dark the view that rises 
up before the dying papist! Nothing but fire 
and pain. The crown and harp are a great way 



I 26 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

off, and to reach them he must wade through 
smoke and flame. No wonder that we never 
hear of a Roman Catholic dying shouting happy ! 
Death for him has a fearful sting, and the grave 
is robed in blackness. How different when a 
Christian dies. His lips may be wet with the 
dew of the vale, and his cold cheeks kissed by 
the spray of Jordan ; yet all is well. Jesus 
waits to receive him, and the hosts of glory en- 
camp about his dying pillow. 

" Sure the last end 
Of the good man is peace. How calm his exit ! 
Night dews fall not more calmly on the ground, 
Nor weary, worn-out winds expire so soft." 

It has often been my privilege to stand by the 
bed-side of departing saints, and witness the 
calmness. and peace with which they looked for- 
ward to the life beyond. 

O ! Rome thou hast shut out the light of Beth- 
lehem^s star, and replaced the skeleton crown on 
Death^s dark brow. We may almost say of thee, 
as the legends of the Rabbi say of Cain, that the 
flowers wither at thy touch, and the earth turns 



PURGATORY. I Tj 

black beneath thy tread. The difference between 
thy teaching and the teaching of the Bible is best 
shown in the hour of death. I hope the reader 
will trust to Christ, and not to Rome. The priest 
may stand at your dying bed, with hallowed oil, 
holy water, crucifix and beads ; yet these will 
give your soul no peace and comfort. But Jesus 
will make your death a transition to joys un- 
known. 

Well has the poet said : 

" Oh ! change — oh, wondrous change ! 
Burst are the prison bars ; 
This moment there, so low, 
So angonized, and now 
Beyond the stars. 

' " O ! change — stupendous change ! 
There lies the soulless clod, 
The sun eternal breaks — 
The new immortal wakes — 
Wakes with his God." 



CHAPTER X. 

TO WHOM SHALL WE PRAY ? 

" Let your requests he made known unto GodP — Phil, iv., 6. • 

" Prayer is the Christian's vital breath, 
The Christian's native air : 
His watchword at the gates of death, — 
He enters Heaven by prayer." 

Montgomery, 

TDRAYER is the great duty of the Christian 
life. No man can lead a pious life without 
praying, any more than he could sustain physical 
life without eating. Prayer is the first indica- 
tion of the new life, the first act of the awakened 
soul : while the last words of the expiring saint 
are often breathed in prayer. Prayer is a 
golden thread, woven by the shuttle of faith, all 
through the warp and woof of the Christian life. 
The question then, " to whom shall we pray T^ is 
one of great importance. A mistake here may 



TO WHOM SHALL WE PRAY ? I 29 

be fatal. Still, the question is soon answered by 
Protestants. We reply at once, to God and to 
God only. Now, we do not deny that . Roman 
Catholics pray to God, but we do affirm that 
they do not pray to him alone. They pray to 
saints and angels, and to the Virgin Mary. They 
deny that they pray directly to the saints, and 
say that they simply ask the saints to pray for 
them, in the same manner that we request a like 
favor of earthly friends. This is all very well as 
a way to answer the inquiries of Protestants : 
but is it the truth ? We think not : and shall 
present full proof of our charge. Roman Cath- 
olics do pray directly to the Virgin Mary and 
the saints, as directly as we pray to God. 
They worship them. Pope Gregory XVI., in his 
encyclical letter, addressed to all patriarchs^ 
primates, archbishops, and bishops, dated August 
15th, 1832, says : <' We select for the date of our 
letter this most joyful day, on which we celebrate 
the solemn festival of the most blessed virgin's 
triumphant assumption into Heaven, that she 

who has been, through every great calamity, our 
12 



130 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

patroness and protectress, may watch over us 
writing to you, and lead our mind, by her 
heavenly influence, to those counsels which may 
prove most salutary to Christ's flock.'' 

Toward the conclusion of the same letter, he 
says : " But that all may have a successful and 
happy issue, let us raise our eyes to the most 
blessed Virgin Mary, who alone destroys here- 
sies, who is our greatest hope, yea, the entire 
ground of our hope." 

This is high praise to bestow on a creature. 
She (the Virgin Mary) is our only hope, its 
*^ entire ground." What room is left for Jesus, 
whom Protestants, who have no infallible pope 
to guide them, are wont to regard as the great' 
foundation of all their hopes ? We will now 
give the ** Litany of the Blessed Virgin," a 
rigmarole of nonsense and blasphemy, to be 
found in nearlv all Romish books of devotion : 



** We fly to thy patronage, O holy mother of 
God ! Despise not our petitions in our neces- 



TO WHOM SHALL WE PRAY f I 3 t 

sities, but deliver us from all dangers, O ever 
glorious and blessed virgin ! 
Lord ! have mercy on us. 
Christ ! have mercy on us. 
Lord ! have mercy on us. 
Christ ! hear us. Christ ! graciously hear us. 
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us. 
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have 
mercy on us. 

Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us. 

Holy Mary, 

Holy mother of God, 

Holy virgin of virgins, ^ 

Mother of Christ, jj 

Mother of divine grace, ^ 

Mother most pure, ^ 

Mother most chaste, ^ 

Mother undefiled, Jj 

Mother unviolated, 

Mother most amiable, ^ 

Mother most admirable, 

Mother of our Creator, 

Mother of our Redeemer, ; 



132 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

Virgin most prudent, 

Virgin most venerable, 

Virgin most powerful, 

Virgin most renowned, 

Virgin most merciful, 

Mother most faithful, 

Mirror of justice, 

Seat of wisdom, 

Cause of our joy, 5^1 

Spiritual vessel, |> 

Vessel of honour, ^ 

Vessel of singular devotion, ^ 

Mystical rose, ^ 

Tower of ivory. 

House of gold, ^j 

Ark of the covenant. 

Gate of Heaven, 

Morning star, 

Health of the weak, 

Kefuge of sinners, 

Comforter of the afflicted. 

Help of Christians, 

Queen of angels, 



TO WHOM SHALL WE PRAY ? I 33 

Queen of patriarchs, ^ 

Queen of prophets, S* 

Queen of apostles, i^ 

Queen of martyrs, h| 

Queen of confessors, S) 

Queen of virgins, cj 

Queen of all saints, 
Lamb of God ! who takest away the sins of the 
world, spare us, Lord ! 

Lamb of God ! who takest away the sins of the 
world, hear us. 

Lord ! have mercy on us. 
Christ ! hear us. Christ ! graciously hear us. 
Lord ! have mercy on us ! Christ ! have mercy 
on us. 

V. Pray for us, O holy mother of God. 
B. That we may be worthy of the promises 
of Christ.'' 

In this litany, some prayers, we admit, are 
directed to the Father and the Son, but the most 
of it is directly addressed to Mary. She is the 
<* Gate of Heaven ; " whereas Christ proclaims 



134 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

that He is the only way of entrance, the one great 
door. 

She is the Morning Star, not Christ, as we 
read in Revelations. "I am the bright and 
morning star/' — Rev. xxii., 16, She is the 
" Health of the weak," not Christ, the Great 
Physician. She is the *' Refuge of sinners/' the 
" Comforter of the afflicted,'' the " Help of Chris- 
tians." Is not this gross idolatry, pure creature 
worship ? 

It is true they use the form, ^' Pray for us;" 
but, then, they mean, be our advocate, intercede 
for us ; and they do this because of her supposed 
merits. When we ask for the prayers of our 
living friends, we make no mention of advocacy 
or merits. We think, after all, that it is most 
effectual, when we pray for ourselves. So their 
plea will not hold good. They cannot exonerate 
themselves from the charge of idolatry. They 
degrade the Lord Jesus by introducing a new 
mediator and intercessor. But the Bible declares 
that, ** There is one God, and one mediator be- 



TO WHOM SHALL WE PRAY? I 35 

tween God and men, the man Christ Jesus." — 
1 Tim. ii.,8. 

But they are not content with appealing to the 
Virgin Mary. They want any quantity of 
" strings to their bow." If one saint is well, a 
hundred saints are better. So they have a <* Lit- 
any of Saints." 

A whole string of saints are invited to act 
as our mediators. There seems to be hardly 
any room for Christ whatever. Yet the Bible 
declares that he is the only Mediator, Is it not, 
then, gross and shameless idolatry, for those call- 
ing themselves Christians, thus to invoke the 
whole host of heaven ? But they give the Virgin 
Mary the pre-eminence. To her they not only 
pray, but sing. Yes, they sing to her. Their 
temples resound with her songs of praise. 

From the 334th page of the Roman Missal, I 
subjoin a specimen of this form of idolatry : 



" O, holy mother of our G-od ! 

To thee for help we fly ; 
Despise not this our humble prayer, 

But all our wants supply. 



136 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY, 

! glorious Virgin, ever blest, 

Defend us from our foes ; 
From threatening danger set us free, 

And terminate our woes." 

According to this hymn, the Virgin Mary is 
the source to which they fly for help. She sup- 
plies their wants, protects them from their enemies, 
and terminates their sorrows. I am glad that I 
am not a Roman Catholic. Here is another of 
their hymns to the Virgin : 

"AVE MARIS STELLA." 
** Hail, thou resplendent star 

Which shineth o'er the main ; 
Blest mother of our God, 
And ever Virgin Queen. 

Hail, happy gate of bliss. 

Greeted by Gabriel's tongue ; 
Negotiate our peace, 

And cancel Eve^s wrong. 

Loosen the sinner^s bonds, 

All evils drive away ; 
Bring light unto the blind. 

And for all graces pray. 

Exert the mother's care, 

And us thy children own ; 
To Him convey our prayer. 

Who chose to be thy Son. 



TO WHOM SHALL WE PRAY ? I 37 

O ! pure, O ! spotless maid, 

Whose meekness all surpass'd 
Our lusts and passions quell. 

And make us mild and chaste. 

Preserve our lives unstained, 

And guard us in our way. 
Until we come to thee^ 

To joys that ne'er decay. 

Praise to the Father be, 

With Christ, his only Son, 
And to the Holy Ghost, 

Thrice blessed Three in One." 

This hymn teaches that Mary is the Saviour of 
the world. She 

" Negotiates our peace. 
And cancels Eve's wrong." 

She loosens the bands of the sinner, and brings 
light to the darkened mind. She sanctifies the 
heart and guides to endless peace. We Pro- 
testants think of Heaven, as the place where 
Jesus reigns, but the Romanists think of it as the 
place where Mary reigns. We love to think of 
meeting with Jesus, they love to think of meeting 
with Mary. We think that Mary was a good 
woman, was highly honored in being the mother 



I 38 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

of Jesus, and is now in Heaven. But is that any 
reason why we should worship her? Is it any 
reason why we should pray to her, sing to 
her. dedicate churches to her, and adore her 
images and pictures? This creature worship, 
this adoration of Mary and the saints, runs all 
through their preaching, their prayer books, 
their newspapers. The worship of the creature 
has supplanted the worship of the Creator. 

Let us see how this worship of, and praying to 
saints, looks in the light of Scripture. This is 
the great test. Before it the idolatry and super- 
stition of Rome melt away like dew on the moun- 
tains. We have already seen that we are invited 
to make our wants known unto God, and that 
there can be only one mediator between him and 
us, *• the man Christ Jesus.'' Prayer is most 
certainly one method of worship. Singing is 
another. Now, the Romanists pray and sing to 
Mary and the saints ; hence they worship them. 
How this does agree with the solemn declaration, 
** Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him 
only shalt thou serve.'' — Matt, iv., 10. 



TO WHOM SHALL WE PRAY? I 39 

Here is another passage that ought to make 
Romanists tremble with fear and guilt : '* Let no 
man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary 
humility and worshipping of angels, intruding 
into those things which he hath not seen, vainly 
puffed up by his fleshy mind/' — Col. ii., 18. 

Elijah did not seem to be acquainted with 
the Romish ways, for he said to Elisha, ^* Ask 
what I shall do for thee before I be taken away 
from thee.''— ^2 Kings ii., 9. 

If Elijah expected to be prayed to in a future 
state, what was the need of this admonition ? 
Peter (Romanists regard him as their First Pope,) 
seems to have been a bit of a Protestant; for 
when Cornelius fell down at his feet, and wor- 
shipped him, Peter raised him up, and said : 
** Stand up ; I myself am a maa." This is not 
much after the manner of modern Popes. 

Now, if we are not to worship saints when on 
the earth, why should we worship them when 
taken to Heaven ? But we have a case in the 
Bible where the worship of a saint in Heaven 
was directly rebuked and forbidden. John, the 



140 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

beloved disciple, fell down to adorn the angel 
showing unto him the heavenly glory; but he 
said unto him, ^' See thou do it not ; 1 am thy fel- 
low-servant, and of thy brethren that have the 
testimony of Jesus ; worship God/^ — Rev. xix., 10. 

If all the angels and saints feel and act like 
this, one-half of the praying done in Roman 
Catholic Churches had much better be omitted. 
As for the worship of Mary, Christ treated her 
with kindness and respect, loved her as his 
mother, but has never indicated that she should 
be worshipped or prayed to, never announced 
her as the Queen of Heaven, or as a mediator 
between him and us. So far from this, he seems 
to have guarded his followers against excessive 
reverence for her. 

" One said unto him. Behold thy mother and 
thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak 
with thee. But he answered and said unto them 
that told him, Who is my mother ? and who are 
my brethren ? And he stretched forth his hand 
towards his disciples, and said : Behold my 
mother and my brethren ! For whosoever shall 



TO WHOM SHALL WE PRAY ? 1 4 1 

do the will of my Father/which is in heaven, the 
same is my brother, and sister, and mother.' ' — 
Matt, xii., 47-50. 

What a rebuke do we have here to the disgust- 
ing Idolatry of Romanism. But they still per- 
sist in telling us that the mother of Jesus never 
sinned as other mortals ; that she never lived 
with Joseph as his wife ; that she was taken up 
bodily to heaven ; that she is queen of angels and 
saints ; has supreme command over the heart of 
Jesus, and must be adored and prayed to. 

The Church of Rome is the " Church of Mary/' 

not the *' Church of Jesus." The most prominent 

object in her hymns, her prayers, and in her 

teachings, is Mary. To Mary her altars are 

dedicated, and in honor of Mary her churches 

are built. It is throughout Mariamty, rather 

than Christianity. Is it not strange that if the 

teaching of this Church is correct, we should 

read nothing about Mary in the epistles of the 

primitive apostles ? Paul, James, and Peter, in 

their several letters, do not even mention her. 

John, in his visions of the heavenly world, saw 
13 



142 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

the Lamb in the midst of the throne, but makes 
no mention of Mary, whom Romanists regard as 
heaven's great queen. This was certainly a very 
grave omission. 

The reader may now see the great difference 
between Romanism and Protestantism on the sub- 
ject of prayer. We have only the great and the 
glorious God to pray to, and feel that we need 
no other refuge. Romanists direct a great part 
of their praying to Mary, to the saints and 
angels. We only pray to God, because we have 
no Scriptural warrant for praying to any other 
Being. This ground has been already gone over. 
1 will only add that we have one instance in the 
New Testament of praying to saints. The rich 
man prayed in hell, but his prayer was never 
answered. The Roman Catholics are welcome 
to get all the aid they can from this single case 
of praying to saints. We should hardly know 
how to pray to the saints, even if we wished to. 
If we should pray to them in a general way, it 
would be a random sort of work. We fear that 
we would not gain much by the operation, as it 



TO WHOM SHALL WE PRAY? 1 43 

might be with them as it is with their brethren 
on earth, that ** what is everybody's business, 
soon comes to be regarded as nobody's business.'' 
If we do not pray in this general manner, but 
select individual saints, we ought to know just 
who are in heaven and who are not. But this 
we do not know, nor will we know who are in 
heaven until we get there ourselves. God alone 
can look down into the human heart, and tell 
who are truly loving and serving him. Now, 
suppose we should make a mistake, and pray to 
some one not in heaven, of what avail would our 
prayers be ? But waiving this difficulty, how 
are we to know that the saint to whom we pray 
hears us ? The saints are not omnipresent. The 
distance between them and us is very great, and 
how do we know that a saint can hear a thousand 
prayers, addressed to him from a thousand parts 
of the earth at the same time ? Besides all this, 
praying to saints is a very roundabout way of 
getting access to our heavenly Father. Why not 
go at once to God ? He loves to have us come 



144 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

to Mm, invites and even urges us to come. In 
fact, we have a standing invitation. 

Why not, then, improve it ? For these and 
many other reasons we prefer to pray to God 
only. We love the saints and angels. We love 
to think of the time when we may fellowship 
with them, but we do not pray to them. We do 
not worship them. We never worshipped them 
when on the earth, and do not feel inclined to 
worship them now that they are in heaven. We 
have never felt any loss from this action. 

We have always found God an all-sufficient 
Friend. We never expect to exhaust the fountain 
of Divine goodness. We have yet to learn that 
Romanists bear the ills of life, with more calm- 
ness or trust in God than Protestants. We will 
conclude this chapter with a brief refutation of 
the arguments commonly advanced by Roman 
Catholics in defence of their saint worship. 

It has been said that we ought to worship the 
saints, because of their supernatural excellence. 
But mere excellence is no ground for adoration. 



TO WHOM SHALL WE PRAY? 1 45 

If it were, every inferior being should worship 
the rank of beings above him. There are many 
excellent persons on earth, but we do not feel 
that we ought to worship them. Dens rests the 
matter on the authority of the church, but we 
deny the authority of the church to establish a 
species of worship, which is not supported by 
the Word of God. He also says : " that the 
saints are to be invoked, because the Council of 
Trent has enjoined it." To this we still reply, 
that we regard nothing as an infallible guide in 
matters of faith and practice save the Word of 
God. It has been said that subjects cannot go 
directly to their king, but have to approach him 
through his ministers. To this queer argument, 
we reply that the illustration does not hold good. 
The doings of God are not to be judged by 
human proceedings. His ways are not as our 
ways, or his thoughts as our thoughts. 

Earthly governments are weak and imperfect, 
but this is not the case with the Divine Govern- 
ment. They argue that Christ is too great to 
be touched by our miseries, too exalted to be 



146 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

approached by us, that the saints are more human, 
etc. This we flatly deny. The New Testament 
everywhere speaks of Jesus as tender and loving. 
He can " be touched with the feeling of our 
infirmities.'' A few more arguments might be 
mentioned, but as they are about like those 
already given, the reader will not require their 
examination. The Church of Rome stands 
charged with gross idolatry. She worships the 
creature more than she does the Creator. This 
is a mill-stone that will yet sink her beneath the 
waves of oblivion. May God hasten the time. 
Her dark shadow comes between the soul and 
God at every turn. She sends her children for 
aid and grace to nearly everything but God. 
May God in his own good time, reveal himself to 
them, and bring them out into the light. 



CHAPTER XL 

CELIBACY. 

" Marriage is honorable in alV — Heb. xiii., 4. 
" A bishop, then, must be blameless, the husband of one wifeP — 
1 Tm. iii., 2. 

" Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, riding their children 
and their own houses well^ — 1 TiM. iii., 12. 

" Domestic happiness, thou only bliss 
Of Paradise, that hast survived the fall." 

Cowper. 

^ I ^HE love of one man for one woman, 
and the life-long union of such devoted 
hearts, in the holy estate of matrimony, is a most 
blessed and a divine institution. This benign 
ordinance escaped the wreck of Eden, and has 
been handed down to us. Even this pure and 
heaven-ordained institution, has not escaped the 
withering touch of Romanism. One would think 
that so fair a flower might have been allowed to 
bloom and flourish unharmed ; but it has not been 



148 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

the case. Rome teaches that there is a holier, a 
more exalted state, than that of marriage. It is 
better, says Rome, to live in a single than in a mar- 
ried state. Surely, this looks like an improvement 
on the word of God. Man has become purer than 
his Maker. The tenth canon of the Council of 
Trent on the subject of marriage, reads as fol- 
lows : " Whoever shall affirm that the conjugal 
state is to be preferred to a life of virginity or 
celibacy, and that it is not better and more condu- 
cive to happiness to remain in virginity, or celib- 
acy, than to be married, let him be accursed." 

Their catechism puts it in this form : <* The 
words increase and multiply, which were uttered 
by Almighty God, do not impose on every indi- 
vidual an obligation to marry ; they declare the 
object of the institution of marriage; and now 
that the human race is widely diffused, not only 
is there no law rendering marriage obligatory, 
but, on the contrary, virginity is highly exalted 
and strongly recommended in Scripture, as su- 
perior to marriage, as a state of greater perfec- 
tion and holiness." 



CELIBACY. 1 49 

This is certainly a strange doctrine. We ad- 
mit that no one is obligated to marry, that it is no 
sin to remain in an unmarried state ; but that 
celibacy is holier and more pleasing to God 
than a married life, does seem strange, indeed. 
Perhaps it is because we have read the Bible so 
much. The Bible can be very well understood 
without Romanism, and Romanism can certainly 
get along without the Bible ; but to receive both, 
and then try to reconcile them, is a most puzzling 
task. 

God himself instituted marriage. He joined 
our first parents together in this holy state, and 
bade them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and 
replenish the earth." 

Paul, writing to the Church at Corinth on the 
subject of marriage, says : '* Nevertheless, to 
avoid fornication, let every man have his own 
wife, and let every woman have her own hus- 
band.'^ In writing to his son in the gospel, Tim- 
othy, the same apostle says : " I will, therefore, 
that the younger women marry, bear children, 
guide the house, give none occasion to the adver- 



150 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

sary to speak reproachfully.^' It is declared 
honorable in all ; and is especially enjoined on 
those who take holy orders. 

The first miracle of Christ was performed at a 
wedding ; and from the relations of husband and 
wife are drawn many tender and beautiful illus- 
trations, setting forth the union between Christ 
and his people. 

The more I see of Romish folly, and the more 
I contrast its teachings with the Bible, the less 
do I wonder that they dislike so much to see this 
blessed book circulated and rdad. What would 
Roman Catholics think, if taking up the Bible, 
they should read that marriage is " Honorable in 
all," or that a bishop **must be the husband of 
one wife''? If the Church of Rome wishes to 
retain its hold upon the people, it had better con- 
tinue its old plan of keeping the Bible away 
from them. We give them credit for seeing and 
carefully guarding their weak point. For the 
sake, however, of us Bible-loving Protestants, 
and that great regard for the Bible which per- 
vades the entire community, they do make a faint 



CELIBACY, I 5 I 

show of defending their doctrine from the Bible. 
They well know that in order to make converts 
from the ranks of Protestantism, they must pre- 
tend to have some little regard for the Bible. 
For their own people they have a much more 
direct and pleasing method. The voice of the 
Infallible Church is enough for them. 

Well, for the sake of us Protestants, they try 
to defend their horrid doctrine of celibacy from 
the Bible. It is a sorry sort of defence, but 
none of us would be likely to do any better, if 
we had so poor a cause and so little to sustain it. 
They appeal to the first epistle of Paul to the 
Corinthians, the seventh chapter. We admit 
that in this chapter there are some expressions 
that seem to favor a single state. But the ex- 
planation is very easy. The Church was soon to 
undergo a terrible persecution; even then to be a 
Christian brought reproach and peril. In such 
a state of things common prudence would suggest 
great caution in entering upon the married state. 
As we have before said, no man is obligated to 
marry, and it may often be a question of great 



152 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

moment, whether it be best to enter upon married 
life, or to remain single. Such was the state of 
things in the minds of many, when Paul wrote 
to the Church at Corinth. The key to the whole 
chapter is given in the 26th verse : " I suppose 
this is good for the present distress.'^ Yet, even 
under these circumstances, he does not command 
any man, or class of men, to abstain from mar- 
riage, but expressly declares that it is lawful for 
all. So much for the argument drawn from the 
seventh chapter of Corinthians. 

Sometimes Matt, xix., 12, is quoted in favor of 
Romish celibacy. We read in this verse, that 
" There be eunuchs, which have made themselves 
eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven^s sake.'' 
These, however, are rare and special cases. It 
may sometimes happen that men are called to 
some work that they can perform better if free 
from the care of a family. 

The reader will recall the case of Bishop 
Asbury and the early American Methodist 
preachers, as furnishing a good illustration of the 
fact just stated. In those days of severe toil and 



CELIBACY. 153 

great poverty, it were well nigh impossible for 
preachers to provide for and watch over the in- 
terests of a wife and family. 

The celibacy referred to by Christ, and of 
which the early Methodist preachers in this coun- 
try form an example, is only for those able to 
receive and practice it. After all, it is only per- 
mitted, not commanded. The celibacy in the 
Church of Eome is forced, and often leads to 
fearful sin and shameless lust. The following 
passage is perhaps more frequently cited in favor 
of celibacy than any other : " The children of this 
world marry, and are given in marriage ; but 
they which are worthy to obtain that world and 
the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor 
are given in marriage ; neither can they die any 
more ; for they are equal unto the angels ; and 
are the children of God, being the children of 
the resurrection." — Luke xx., 34-36. 

"The plain meaning of this passage is, that 
marriage is the condition of our present mode of 
existence ; but it is not the condition of the fu- 
ture life. According to the Roman Catholic 
14 



154 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

interpretation of this passage we might argue, 
* Animal life is sustained by aliment ; not so the 
angelic life ; therefore to abstain from food, as far 
as possible, is in the same degree to make one's 
self an angel.' " — Elliott on Romanism, Vol, IL, 
page 385. 

We will not pursue this investigation into the 
Bible argument in behalf of celibacy any farther. 
One or two more passages might be given, as 
sometimes quoted by Romanists ; but before they 
can by any means be pressed into the service of 
Romanism, they must receive so fanciful an inter- 
pretation, and be so grossly perverted, that to 
formerly consider them, and refute the meaning 
forced upon them, would be an insult to the in- 
telligence of the reader. We object, then, to the 
Popish doctrine of celibacy, that it has no 
support or foundation in Scripture. We object 
also that it is absurd. All men ought to be as 
holy as they can. If celibacy is a holier state 
than matrimony, no man ought to be married. 
Well, suppose we all practice celibacy. There 
would soon be none left to argue concerning 



CELIBACY. 1 55 

which is the better way : unless we adopted the 
practice of Rome, and allowed fornication, 
because too pure to enter upon matrimony. This 
may seem a severe charge, but we appeal to well- 
known facts. If Father Walsh, the would-be 
seducer of Miss Edith O'Gorman, had taken to 
himself a wife, he would soon have been hurried 
out of the church and ministry : but as he only 
attempted to ruin a poor and defenceless nun, he 
is now and always has been an ordained priest in 
the Romish Church, 

All the punishment he received was a removal 
from one parish to another. I think I can under- 
stand why the Church of Rome forbids its priests 
to marry. If they marry, and rear families, they 
will form social and political ties. They will 
cease to be the mere tools of the Pope. They 
will contract a love of country, and the great 
binding power of the Papacy will be broken. 
As it is now, they can easily be transferred from 
one country to another, or employed to great ad- 
vantage as spies and politicians. This gives the 
Pope an immense power. 



156 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

We object to celibacy as maintained and prac- 
ticed in the Roman Catholic Church, that it pro- 
duces a fearful amount of licentiousness. It has 
done this in the past, and it is doing it to-day. 
A tree is known by its fruits. If celibacy is 
such a holy state, it ought to fill the earth with 
blessing. The voice of history tells a very differ- 
ent story. 

In the third century Cyprian complains bitter- 
ly of the conduct of the celibates of his day. 
He tells us that males and females occupy the 
same bed, although living under a vow of celib- 
acy. In the fourth century, Ohrysostom admits 
of conduct in the professed virgins of his day, as 
gross as that described by Cyprian. 

Udalric, bishop of Augusta, who flourished 
several centuries later, tells us : " That Gregory 
the Great, by his decree, deprived priests of their 
wives ; when, shortly after, he commanded that 
some fish should be caught from the fish-ponds, the 
fishers, instead of fish, found the heads of six 
thousand infants that had been drowned in the 
pond." These, he tells us, *' were born from the 



CELIBACY. 1 57 

concealed fornications and adulteries of the 
priests." Bernard, who died in 963, speaking of 
the celibates of his day, says : " Nay, besides for- 
nications, adulteries, and incests, there are not 
wanting among some the most shameful and 
ignominious conduct." 

Thus we might go through each successive 
century, and show by competent witnesses, how 
degraded and vile have been the lives of the 
great majority of those professing celibacy. In 
our days, we have no reason to believe that 
things are much improved. Those professing 
celibacy are simply men and women, with all the 
passions and infirmities of our frail humanity. 
They are, in general, unconverted men and wo- 
men. They live high, on rich foods and wines. 
They have free access to each other's society. 
They can easily conceal their guilt. For these 
and other reasons, we believe that Romish celib- 
acy is still a fearful curse, and a fruitful source 
of crime. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE CONVENT SYSTEM. 

" God hath made man upright ; hut they have sought out many 
inventions^ — Eec. vii., 29. 

A S the Church of Rome ascribes great merit 
to a life of celibacy, so likewise she ascribes 
great merit to a life of solitude. The great 
doctrinal error at the foundation of these false 
views of human life is, that the atonement of 
Christ is not in itself sufficient to save the soul. 
It must be supplemented by penance and self-in- 
flicted pain in this life, and the fires of purgatory 
in the life to come. Protestants believe that the 
followers of Christ must often bear the cross of 
suffering and painful toil in this life ; but they do 
not believe that Christians should seek for suffer- 
ing, or that they should inflict it upon them- 
selves. Neither do they regard Christian 
suffering and toil as vicarious, or in any way as 



THE CONVENT SYSTEM. 1 59 

adding to the perfect work of Christ. Romanists 
seem to think that the more miserable we are in 
this world, the happier we will be in the next. 
They think that human suffering may become 
vicarious, and transfer merit to others, by making 
the soul of the sufferer advance in sacrifice and 
purity beyond the requirements of the law of 
God. 

This surplus of holiness and good works, con- 
stitute what they are pleased to call the '* Celes- 
tial Treasury of Indulgences,^' and is generously 
retailed by the Holy Father in prices to suit the 
pockets of the various purchasers. We can now 
very easily understand the rise of the convent 
system. We see the nature of the foundation on 
which it rests. 

The heart of man is given to pride. The 
Bible plan of salvation does not flatter this proud 
heart — sin must be confessed and forsaken, eternal 
life must be received as the free and unmerited 
gift of God. All this is very repulsive to the 
proud and unrenewed heart. Man would earn 
salvation. He would buy it. He would rather 



l6o THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

get it in any way, than as a free and unmerited 
gift. Very early in the history of the Christian 
Church, did this self-righteous spirit begin to 
manifest itself. Even in the life-time of Paul, 
the Mystery of Iniquity began to work. Once 
having commenced, this vile cancer of monkery 
continued to spread, until it threatened to eat 
away the last remaining semblance of Christian- 
ity. Says Dr. Ruter, in his '^ Church History," 
speaking of the fourth century : " Another branch 
of superstition, which daily increased, was Monk- 
ery ; the actual establishment of which is to be 
dated from the fourth century. Numbers, seized by 
a fanatical spirit, voluntarily inflicted upon them- 
selves the severest sufferings, and were content 
to be deprived of every earthly good. In this 
solitary state, like their leader, the illiterate An- 
thony, they rejected learning as useless, if not 
pernicious, and professed to be occupied solely in 
silence, meditation and prayer. When, however, 
they were formed into regular societies, they em- 
ployed some part of their time in study. Their 
melancholy modes of life prepared and qualified 



THE CONVENT SYSTEM. l6l 

them for all the vagaries of a heated imagina- 
tion; they had prophetic dreams, saw visions, 
conversed with the different inhabitants of the 
invisible world, and many closed a life of despair 
in madness. Considerable numbers of the softer 
sex forsook their elegant abodes, and all the en- 
dearments of domestic life, to dwell in caves and 
deserts. Egypt was the great theater for monas- 
tic action ; and at the close of the fourth century, 
it was computed that twenty-seven thousand 
monks and nuns were to be found in that country. 
The fortunate Anthony had the happiness, in tra- 
versing the deserts, to discover the retreat of 
Paul, the hermit, whose eyes he piously closed, 
and resolved to imitate his holy example. His 
solitude was soon enlivened by numbers, for 
whose government he composed regulations, 
which were in a short time introduced, by his 
disciple Hilarion, into Syria and Palestine, and 
by others into Mesopotamia and Armenia. From 
the East it passed with celerity into the West. 
Basil introduced it into Greece, and Ambrose 
into Italy. Martin, the celebrated bishop of 



1 62 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

Tours, propagated monkery so rapidly in Gaul, 
that his funeral is said to have been attended by 
no less than two thousand monks. The numbers 
of these deluded people, and the veneration paid 
to them were such as to induce them sometimes 
to conceive themselves superior to the laws, the 
execution of which they frequently suspended, 
and ventured with impunity to snatch criminals 
from the hands of justice while on their way to 
execution." — Church History j pages 15j 76. 

In the next century matters grew still worse. 
Of monkery in this century, Dr. Ruter says : 
" The approbation of monastic institutions was 
not only extensively diffused, and numbers made 
unhappy from the defection of their relations, 
and the consequent loss of their support, but the 
more judicious part of the community had the 
mortification to observe that, as the numbers who 
embraced the state of monachism sensibly in- 
creased, so also monastic folly increased in the 
same proportion. In the beginning of this cen- 
tury a new order of monks was instituted by a 
person of the name of Alexander, who obtained 



THE CONVENT SYSTEM. 1 63 

the name of watchers, from their method of per- 
forming divine service without any intermission. 
They divided themselves into three classes, which 
relieved each other at stated hours ; and by that 
means continued, without any interval, a perpetual 
course of divine service. Among the Mystics, 
many not only affected to reside with wild and 
savage beasts, but imitated their manners. With 
a ferocious aspect they traversed the gloomy 
deserts, fed upon herbs and grass, or .remained 
motionless in certain places for several years, ex- 
posed to the scorching heat of the mid-day sun, 
or to the chilling blast of the nocturnal air. All 
conversation with men was studiously avoided by 
these gloomy fanatics, who frequently concluded 
their lives by an act of violent madness, or shut 
themselves up in narrow and miserable dens, to 
howl out the remainder of their wretched exis- 
tence.'' — Church History, page 101. 

It would be an easy task to follow out the de- 
velopment of this miserable superstition during 
the succeeding centuries. It still exists in the 
Church of Rome. Men and women still think 



164 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

that they can please God, and secure a high place 
in Heaven, by shutting themselves up from the 
busy world, and spending their years in undis- 
turbed seclusion. Two things, however, are over- 
looked. 

First, They do not escape temptation by rush- 
ing into the cloister of some convent. They 
take with them our frail and imperfect human 
nature. The human heart is the same in convent 
and in hall. The devil, our souFs arch enemy, 
cannot be shut out by gates and bars. 

Secondly, They lose noble opportunities for 
doing good. Some nuns, we know, lead busy 
lives among the sick and suffering ; but others are 
called cloistered nuns, and never leave the con- 
vent, even for the purpose of public worship. 

Now, what right has any one, professing to be 
a follower of Jesus, to shut himself up in useless 
and inglorious solitude? Admitting that even 
cloistered nuns, do not lead lives of utter useless- 
ness,how much more good might be accomplished 
if freed from the vows and fetters of convent 
life! 



THE CONVENT SYSTEM. 1 65 

Think of the sorrowing hearts to be comforted, 
of the hungry to be fed, the sick and dying to be 
visited, the sinful to be directed to the cross. 
What would Paul and Peter, Dorcas or Phebe, 
have done for the Church and the world, if they 
had been monks and nuns in some gloomy con- 
vent ? 

But in their day convents were unknown. 
Christ never founded any, Peter never saw one. 
The whole tenor of the Bible is opposed to this 
dark system. We are to " Let our light shine f 
to be as "^ A city that is set on a hill." I wonder 
if any Romish bishop, when preaching a sermon 
on the occasion of some impulsive girl taking the 
black veil, ever selected for his text. Matt, v., 15: 
<* Neither do men light a candle, and put it under 
a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth 
light unto all that are in the house.'' I should 
very much love to hear a sermon preached 
from such a text, on such an occasion. The con- 
vent system, like celibacy, is not only unscrip- 
tural, but absurd. If it is such a grand 

institution, all ought to have the advantage of it. 
15 



\66 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

All Christians want to be as holy as it is possible 
for them to be. Well, suppose we all go into 
convents, and become monks and nuns, what is to 
become of a world perishing in sin ? 

The convent system is cruel. It tramples 
on the purest and best instincts of the human 
heart. It takes young and impulsive creatures, 
fills their minds with glowing conceptions of the 
purity and bliss of convent . life, binds them by 
the most awful of vows, to a loveless and dreary 
life. 

The false step has been taken. Soon the 
bright dreams are dispelled. Sleeping on com- 
fortless beds in narrow cells, getting up at four 
o'clock in mid-winter, and a complete severance 
from all human loves ; with ghostly fathers, 
priestly brothers, jealous sisters, and a snappish 
old superior for mother, is found to be anything 
but romantic and pleasing. Eepentance comes 
too late. The fatal vow has been taken, and 
death alone can bring relief 

Thackeray, in his Irish Sketch Book, has said 
some truthful words. Would that all thinking 



THE CONVENT SYSTEM. 1 67 

to enter upon convent life, might read and ponder 
them. Referring to the Ursuline convents at 
Black Rock, near Cork, he says : " In the grille 
is a little wicket, and a ledge before it. It is to 
this wicket that women are brought to kneel; 
and a bishop is in a chapel on the other side, and 
takes their hands in his, and receives their vows. 
I had never seen the like before, and felt a sort 
of shudder in looking at the place. There rests 
the girl's knees as she offers herself up, and for- 
swears the sacred affections which God gave her; 
there she kneels and denies forever the beautiful 
duties of her being — no tender maternal yearn- 
ings — no gentle attachments are to be had from 
her or for her — there she kneels and commits 
suicide upon her heart. 0, honest Martin Luther ! 
thank God you came to pull that infernal, wicked,^ 
unnatural altar down — that cursed Paganism. 
I came out of the place quite sick ; and looking 
before me, there, thank God ! was the blue spire 
of Minkstown church, soaring up into the free 
sky — a river in front rolling away to the sea — 
liberty, sunshine, all sorts of gladness and motion, 



1 68 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

roundabout; and I couldn^t but thank Heaven 
for it, and the Being whose service is freedom, 
and who has given us affections that we may use 
them — not smother and kill them ; and a noble 
world to live in, that we may admire it and Him 
who made it — not shrink from it, as though we 
dared not live there, but must turn our back upon 
it and its bountiful Provider. I declare, 1 think, 
for my part, that we have as much right to per- 
mit Sutterism in India as to allow women in the 
United Kingdom to take these wicked vows, or 
Catholic bishops to receive them/' 

These convents, it must be remembered, are 
shut out from public inspection. No one can 
enter them, or have any interview with any of 
their inmates, unless allowed so to do by the 
Romish authorities in charge. 

A few years ago a motion was made in the 
British Parliament, and carried by a small major- 
ity, to appoint a committee to inquire into con- 
ventual and monastic institutions. In referring to 
the agitation growing out of the question, the Lon- 
don Watchman justly made the following remarks : 



THE CONVENT SYSTEM. 1 69 

" The convents are prisons. They are built, as 
every one may see, almost strongly enough to 
stand a seige. High walls, massive doors, for- 
midable fastenings, grates and bars of portentious 
solidity — are these things the favored instru- 
ments of liberty? Or are they the habitual 
vreapons of tyranny and oppression ? The con- 
vents are prisons ; at least, ' the show of their 
countenance doth witness against them.' Wo- 
men enter them under compulsion ; remain in 
them under severe and terrible restraint; and 
disappear from them entirely, leaving no trace 
behind. It is well known that convents in this 
country are in communication with convents 
abroad, and that refractory nuns, or young women 
who have not yet taken the conventual vows, and 
about whom unpleasant inquiries are made by 
friends or lovers, are removed to the Continent ; 
out of reach, sometimes forever out of reach, of 
all whom they love. As if to give special point 
to Mr. Newdegate's arguments, only a few days 
before he raised this question in the House, an 
unsuccessful attempt was made to remove a 



lyO THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

young woman to some convent-prison in France. 
Happily, the pursuit of her friends and her own 
vigorous resistance baflfted the attempt; but no* 
one who heard her cries for help resounding 
through the hotel where her spiritual guardians 
detained her for the night, could well believe 
that this * bride of heaven' voluntarily * sought 
the refuge of the cloister/ '' 

In this country, they are no better. We 
sincerely hope the time will come when these 
institutions will be annually inspected by oflBcers 
appointed expressly for this purpose. We in- 
spect prisons and lunatic asylums, why not 
inspect convents ? God only knows how many, 
like Mary Ann Smith, have been abducted and 
confined in them : or how many would fain be 
restored to society and liberty if they only had 
the opportunity. If these words of warning 
shall lead any to turn aside from the snare, ere 
they take the fatal and unnatural vows upon 
them, or shall in any way hasten the time when 
these prisons shall be inspected by proper ofiBcers, 
the author will be amply repaid for all his toil. 




CHAPTER XIIl. 



MINOR FOLLIES. 



" The Mother of Karlots and Abominations of the Earth.^^ — 
Rey. xvii., 5. 

"TN comparing the doctrines and doings of 
Eomanism, with the teaching of Holy Writ, 
we cannot fail to perceive a wide departure from 
Scriptural simplicity. We have gone over much 
of this ground, but have not yet completed the 
list of Papal abominations. Wishing to make 
this book rather a brief manual on the subject of 
Romanism, than an extended and exhaustive 
treatise; and having yet to consider the posi- 
tion of Rome in prophecy, its cruel and blood- 
thirsty persecutions, the danger with which it 
threatens our national life, together with its 
certain and utter overthrow, we will compress 
our examination of some remaining Romish 



172 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

abominations into the space of a single chapter. 
Of course a mere outline can only be given. We 
hope that many of our readers will be led to 
make a thorough comparison of Eomish doings, 
with the pure and infallible word of God: 
Those who do this, will never follow in the foot- 
steps of Doane, Rogers or Dr. Stone; unless 
their desire of notoriety and gain is greater than 
their love for truth. If you should go to worship 
in some Roman Catholic Church, you would find 
it a very difierent affair from a Presbyterian, 
Baptist, Methodist, or any other truly Protestant 
Church. Perhaps the first thing to attract your 
attention, would be a little vessel filled with 
water, (often not over-clean) and fastened to the 
wall in the vestibule. This is the far-famed holy 
water, A little salt and a few other ingredients 
are put in some common water, a blessing is 
added by the priest or bishop, and behold ! we 
have ^' holy water.'^ This holy water is put to 
many different uses, and is supposed to possess 
untold merits. It is supposed to keep away the 
Devil, prevent sickness and to ward off harm of 



MINOR FOLLIES. 173 

every possible kind. The people dip their 
fingers in it, and then cross themselves. They 
sometimes carry it away in little bottles, and 
sprinkle it on their beds, in order to keep away 
the Devil, and to prevent danger and accident. 

" One of the most senseless and extraordinary 
uses to which the papists apply this holy water, 
is the sprinkling and blessing of horses^ mules, 
asses ^ &c., on the festival of St. Anthony, observed 
annually on the 17th of January. On that day 
the inhabitants of the city of Rome and vicinity 
send their horses, &c., decked with ribbons, to 
the convent of St. Anthony, which is situated 
near the Church of St. Mary the Great. 

'^ The priest, in his sacerdotal garments, stands 
at the church door, with a large sprinkling-brush 
in his hand, and as each animal is presented to 
him, he takes off his skull cap, mutters a few 
words in Latin, intimating that through the 
merits of the blessed St. Anthony, they are to be 
preserved for the coming year from sickness and 
death, famine and danger, then dips his brush in 
a huge bucket of holy water, that stands by him, 



174 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

and sprinkles them in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Some- 
times the visitor at Rome will see a splendid 
equipage driven up, attended by outriders, in 
elegant livery, to have the horses thus sprinkled 
with holy water, all the people remaining un- 
covered till the absurd and disgusting ceremony 
is over. On one occasion a traveler observed a 
countryman, whose beast having received the 
holy water, set off from the church door at a 
galop, but had scarcely gone a hundred yards 
before the ungainly animal tumbled down with 
him, and over its head he rolled into the dust. 
He soon, however, rose, and so did the horse, 
without either seeming to have sustained much 
injury. Tfie priest looked on, and though his 
blessing had failed, he was not out of counte- 
nance; while some of the bystanders said that 
but for it, the horse and its rider might have 
broken their necks.'' — Bowling^ s History of Ro- 
manism^ pages Wl-Wi, 

Now, what warrant in the Bible can we find 
for such degrading ceremonies, such absurd 



-MINOR FOLLIES. 175 

superstition ? It is not enough to say that the 
Bible does not condemn it. We should have 
some positive foundation, on which to rest it. 
Many things are not forbidden in the Bible, 
simply because when the Bible was composed, 
these modern follies were unknown. But it does 
not seem to fit in with the general spirit of the 
Bible. When the Bible is silent upon a point on 
which we seek information, we test the matter by 
an appeal to its general spirit and tone. Now, 
the general tone of the Bible is opposed to such 
operations. Holy water was unknown to the 
Jewish priest, unknown to Christ and to his 
apostles. We can trace the origin of this super- 
stition to no very flattering source. It is mani- 
festly transmitted from Paganism. Roman Catho- 
lic writers themselves have been compelled to 
admit this. This matter of holy water may be 
deemed by some as a thing of small importance ; 
but it serves to illustrate the corruptions and 
follies of Romanism. Passing now within the 
church, we find it filled with images and pictures 
of Mary and the saints. To these the people 



\j6 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

kneel, and before them, at least, they engage in 
prayer. This certainly has a very heathenish 
and idolatrous appearance. We can hardly get 
away from the impression that we are in some 
heathen temple. Romanists tell us that their 
people only pray befoi^e them, and not to them : 
that the worship given them is only of a relative 
and secondary kind, &c. ; but after all it looks at 
least very much like idolatry, and we have been 
warned to avoid even the ^^ appearance of evil.^' 
Let us put the language of the Council of Trent, 
and that of the Word of God, side by side, that 
we may compare them. This is the language of 
the Council : ^' I most firmly assert, that the 
images of Christ, of the mother of God, ever 
virgin, and also of the saints, ought to be had 
and retained, and that due honor and veneration 
is to be given them.'' This is the language of the 
Word of God : " Thou shalt not make unto thee any 
graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is 
in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or 
that is in the water under the earth : Thou shalt 
not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them." 



MINOR FOLLIES. I 77 

I leave the reader to decide the question, 
whether the Council and the Bible entirely agree. 
The practice of the Romish Church is even worse 
than its doctrine on this subject. The ignorant 
at least do pray to them and do worship them. 
In Rome they have actually taken old heathen 
gods, given them Christian names, and set them 
up for the adoration of the people. 

<^ The noblest heathen temple now remaining 
in the world, is the Pantheon, or Rotunda; 
which, as the inscription over the portico informs 
us, having been impiously dedicated of old by 
Agrippa to Jove, and all the gods, was impiously 
reconsecrated by Pope Boniface lY., about 
A. D. 610, To The Blessed Virgin And All The 
Saints. 

Pantheon, &c. 

Ab Agrippa Augusti Genero, 

Impic Jovi Caeterisq ; Mendocibus Diis, 

A. Bonifacio IIII., Pontifice, 
Deiparoc & S. S. Christi Martyrilus Pio 

Dicatum, &c. 
16 



lyS THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

" With this single alteration, it serves as exactly 
for all the purposes of the popish as it did for the 
pagan worship, for which it was built. For as 
in the old temple, every one might find the God 
of his country, and address himself to that deity, 
whose religion he was most devoted to ; so it is 
the same thing now ; every one chooses the patron 
whom he likes best; and one may see here 
difierent services going on at the same time at 
different altars, with distinct congregations round 
them, just as the inclinations of the people lead 
them to the worship of this or that particular 
saint.'' — Dowling^s History of Romanism, page 
124. 

Papal Rome seems to be as much given to 
idolatry as ever was pagan Rome. In addition 
to the veneration of images and pictures, Rome 
teaches her followers to adore the relics of the 
saints, that is, their bones^ clothings hair, &c. No 
Roman Catholic Church can be consecrated^ 
unless some sacred relics are stored in it. It 
may be a very small relic, a tooth, a toe-nail, a 
hair, a drop of the blood, or a preserved tear 



MINOR FOLLIES. 179 

from the eye ; but so long as it has been declared 
genuine by the Pope, and placed with the usual 
ceremonies in the altar of the church, it will 
sufl5ce. The reverence in which these relics are 
held is very great, and they even go beyond 
holy water in their power to work miracles. As 
every church, in order to be consecrated, must 
have some relic, the demand for them, and the 
hunting after them has been immense. It is said 
that there are as many pieces of the true cross 
in different parts of Europe, as would supply a 
town with fuel for an entire winter. We are 
reminded of the story of the showman, who 
exhibited the sword with which Balaam smote his 
ass. The rustic crowd gazed in mute admiration, 
and the showman was having it all his own way, 
when a gentleman present called his attention to 
the fact, that Balaam did not have any sword, but 
only wished for one. Nothing abashed, the show- 
man replied, *' This is the one for which he 
wished. '' This certainly was not a very reliable 
or valuable relic, yet as good as thousands ex- 
hibited by the Church of Rome. It is very 



l8o THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

diflScult to see what advantage can be derived 
from the possession and study of these relics^ 
even if they were all genuine. In what way can 
the toe-nail of St. Peter, a drop of St. PauFs 
blood, or some of the beard of John the Baptist, 
excite our devotion, or make us any holier^ 
even if we are sure that we have them in our 
possession ? But how can we ever know that 
these old bones, etc., ever did belong to any of 
the saints ? There is no external difference be- 
tween the bones of St. Paul, and the bones of 
Judas Iscariot ; none between the skull of St. 
Peter, and that of the impenitent thief. It is true 
we can get the decision of the Pope. This may 
satisfy devoted Romanists, but will hardly con- 
vince the great outside world. We need not 
wonder that Roman Catholic countries abound in 
infidels. Let the Church of Rome pull down its 
pagan images and pictures, throw away its old 
bones and other ridiculous relics, and if it does 
not secure obedience, it may possibly command 
respect. Having considered the holy water at 
the door, the images and pictures on the wall, 



MINOR FOLLIES. l8l 

the relics under the altar, we now turn to the 
priest ; (this is the blasphemous name they give 
to their ministers,) and are at once struck with the 
strange appearance of his attire. He is dressed 
in as fantastic a style as though he were a clown 
in some circus. Joseph^s coat of many colors 
would soon fade if compared with this priestly 
robe. Now, this may be all right, but it seems 
difficult to imagine Peter or Paul dressed after 
such a fashion. Christ declared that God, being 
a Spirit, must be worshiped *^ in spirit and in 
truth. ^^ Now no particular kind of dress for 
ministers is forbidden in the Bible, and none is 
commanded ; but at the same time all this display 
of pomp and pride seems strangely inconsistent 
with pure and spiritual worship. In addition to 
the images and pictures on the wail, the fantastic 
attire of the priests, the glitter of altar and 
shrine, we notice at a certain point in the service, 
clouds of incense floating in the air. This is 
a purely pagan custom. The use of incense was 
unknown to the early christians, except as they 



1 82 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

beheld it in the temples of the heathen. Virgil, 
speaking of the Paphian Venus, says : 

^' Her hundred altars there with garlands crowned, 
And richest incense smoking breathe around 
Sweet odors."— ^w. 1, 420. 

<' Under the pagan emperors, the use of incense 
for any purpose of religion was thought so contrary 
to the obligations of Christianity^ that, in their 
persecutions, the very method of trying and con- 
victing a Christian, was by requiring him only to 
throw the least grain of it into the censer, or on 
the altar. Under the Christian emperors, on the 
other hand, it was looked upon as a rite so pecu- 
liarly heathenish, that the very places or houses 
where it could be proved to have been done, were, 
by a law of Thedosius, confiscated to the govern- 
ment. In the old bas-reliefs, or pieces of sculp- 
ture, we never fail to see a boy in a sacred habit, 
which was always white, attending on the priest, 
with a little chest or box in his hands, in which 
this incense was kept for the use of the altar. And 
in the same manner still, in the Church of Rome, 



MINOR FOLLIES. I 83 

there is always a boy in a surplice waiting on the 
priest at the altar, with the sacred utensils ; among 
the rest the Thuribulum, or vessel of incense, 
which the priest, with many ridiculous motions 
and crossings, waves several times, as it is smoking 
around and over the altar, in different parts of 
the service.'' — Dowling^s History of Romanism^ 
pages 115, 116. 

Candles will also be observed by the curious 
visitor burning upon the various altars. These 
are not for the purpose of illumination, as they 
are kept burning in the day-time. Here we have 
another innovation upon primitive worship, drawn 
from the abominations of heathenism. This cus- 
tom, Herodotus tells us, was first introduced by 
the Egyptians. Many of the early writers ex- 
pose the folly of this heathen practice. " They 
light up candles to God,^^ says Loitontius, '» as if 
He lived in the dark ; and do they not deserve to 
pass for madmen who offer lamps to the Author and 
Giver of light r' 

If any reader of this book doubts the correct- 
ness of theaccount here given of Romish worship, 



184 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

let him step into the nearest Roman Catholic 
church, and verify the matter for himself. If the 
images and pictures, the costly robes and glitter- 
ing altars, the candles, incense and holy water, 
the operatic music and gay processions, do not 
remind him of some gorgeous pageant, or heathen 
temple, we will be very much mistaken. Turn- 
ing from these matters to the worship itself, we 
are astonished to hear the priest read the service 
in a strange aod unfamiliar tongue. It is Latin ; 
for this is the language of the Church of Rome. 
In this dead and, to the masses of the people, for- 
gotten tongue, the Romish service is said. One 
would think that if an unknown tongue were to 
be employed, it would be Hebrew or Greek — the 
language in which the Word of God was first writ- 
ten. But Rome says that Latin is to be pre- 
ferred — and Rome claims to be infallible. A 
curse is pronounced upon all who afiBrm that Mass 
should be performed in any other tongue. As for 
our part, we do not see the necessity of perform- 
ing any part of divine service in any other than 
the language of the people. Paul says : " In the 



MINOR FOLLIES. I 85 

church I had rather speak five words with my 
understanding, that by my voice I might teach 
others also, than ten thousand words in an un-^ 
known tongue.^' — 1 Cor. xiv., 19. Not only is 
the service said in Latin, but by the most of the 
priests it is so poorly and hurriedly said that the 
whole thing takes the appearance of a farce. 
Time would fail to enumerate all the abominations 
introduced by the Church of Kome in the worship 
of the pure and holy God. The attention of the 
people is turned away from the sublime and holy 
truths of Revelation, and directed to a senseless 
round of form and ceremony. Rome has poisoned 
the very fountain of Christian life ; for it is by 
waiting on the Lord (joining in His worship) that 
Christians renew their strength. 

We have already gone over the major part of 
Romish doctrine, but one awful subversion of sa- 
cred truth, one gross abomination, remains to be 
mentioned. The Church of Rome says that there 
are seven sacraments. We only read of two in 
the Bible, but the Church of Rome, having tradi- 



1 86 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

tion to appeal to, and being (in his own estima- 
tion) infallible, has added five more. 

These five are Confirmation, Penance, Extreme 
Unction, Holy Order and Matrimony. Confirma- 
tion is their ceremony of receiving persons into 
full communion with the church. The Bishop is 
the administrator. The candidates kneel before 
him. A chrism, made of oil of olives and balsam, 
and consecrated by the bishop, is put on the face 
of the person in the form of a cross, the bishop 
saying : " I sign thee with the sign of the cross, 
and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost.'' A little blow on the cheek is some- 
times added. This, they say, is to teach them to 
bear the trials and persecutions of the world with 
Christian calmness and fortitude. 

Now, if this was simply their manner of receiv- 
ing members into the church, although we should 
much prefer some other method, we would yet 
have no controversy with them on the subject, but 
when they give it sacramental qualities, we feel 



MINOR FOLLIES. I 87 

compelled to oppose it as unsound and unscrip- 
tural. They base it on the laying on of the hands 
of the apostles, several times mentioned in the 
New Testament; but this was for the bestowment 
of special and extraordinary gifts. The gifts have 
ceased, and therefore the ceremony. " Every 
sacrament must have its appointment from Christ, 
consisting both of an outward sign and words of 
institution. But this ordinance of theirs has none 
of these. The sign which they use is oil. Their 
words of consecration are, ^ 1 sign thee with the 
sign of Ihe cross, anoint thee with the chrism of 
health, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost.' But none of these have 
their institution from Christ or his apostles. We 
read, indeed, that the apostles used imposition of 
hands, but never of chrism or oil. Indeed, this 
superstitious device was not then in use, being 
brought in long after by Sylvester, who is reported 
by Damascus to have been the deviser of chrism." 
— Elliot on Romanism^ pages 232-233. 

Penance is the performance of some task given 
by the priest in confession, (as the saying of so 



1 88 



THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 



many Ave Marias or Pater JYosters), by which 
satisfaction is made for sin. This matter of con- 
fession and the true method of obtaining pardon, 
has already been gone over. Jesus Christ died 
for all men, and all who will may obtain pardon 
through faith in him. Nothing that we can do, 
will add to the perfect work of Calvary. Extreme 
Unction is the funniest ceremony in the Church. 
of Rome. There is nothing funny in the occasion, 
for it is given to those about to die, but the idea 
of anointing the body of a dying man, in order 
to help him elude the grasp of the Devil, is su- 
premely ridiculous. The ceremony consists in 
anointing the dying man with oil that has been 
blessed by the bishop, the oil being applied to the 
eyes^ ears, nose, mouth, hands, and sometimes to 
the kidneys. Now, where is the scriptural foun- 
dation for all this ? We are pointed, it is true, to 
the case mentioned by St. James, but the anoint- 
ing in this case was given with reference to the 
cure of the sick man, whereas Romanists never 
give extreme unction while there remains any 
hope of life. The anointing practiced by the 



MINOR FOLLIES. I 89 

apostles was the attendant and token of a miracu- 
lous cure. These miraculous recoveries have 
ceased, and why should we continue the sign ? 
The two remaining of the added sacraments are 
Orders and Matrimony. How unscriptural it is 
to place them among the sacraments, we will leave 
the Bible-loving reader to determine. 

The pen tires, and the heart sickens in recount- 
ing the abominations of which Rome is the pro- 
lific mother. The author well remembers a remark 
made to him by the late lamented Dr. Mattison. 
" If," said he, -^ all the devils in Hell had been at 
work for a thousand years to devise a system of 
falsehood and iniquity, they could have prepared 
nothing better suited to their purpose than Ro- 
manism." Romanism perverts Scripture truth, 
exalts the Father and tradition as of equal au- 
thority, denies the right of private interpretation, 
turns the worship of God into childish mockery, 
and, whenever possible, persecutes even unto 
death all who will not bow to her ghostly author- 
ity. Her bishops and chief pastors, convened in 

general council, curse the progress of the age, 

17 



I go THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

bewail the prevalence of civil and religious liberty, 
and would, if they could, put back the world into 
the darkness of the middle ages. Like certain 
deadly plants, Popery thrives best in darkness 
and in gloom. The light of progress and liberty 
will bring death to her dark and deep designs. 
Let the people have the light of knowledge — let 
them learn to reason for themselves — and the 
power of Rome will be forever broken. 

I will conclude this chapter by referring to one 
more of the abominations of Romanism, I mean 
the pretended power of working miracles. This 
power was given to the apostles as the credentials 
of the correctness of their message and the reality 
of their commission. As the church became 
established, and received for a guide the New 
Testament, miracles gradually disappeared, and 
soon ceased to exist at all. This power the Ro- 
man Catholic Church has never ceased to claim. 
If, however, we examine her boasted miracles by 
the usual tests, they soon disappear. The mira- 
cles of the Bible are dignified and beneficent. 
The miracles of Romanism are absurd in the high- 



MINOR FOLLIES. igi 

est degree. The miracles of the Bible are well 
attested by competent witnesses. The miracles 
of Romanism are unattested, except by those pre- 
tending to effect them. A few of them may be 
named for the amusement of the reader. Dogs, 
asses and bees^ for the benefit and conversion of 
heretics, have adored the sacred host. Many mir- 
acles are ascribed to St. Dominic. A knight, to 
whom he presented a rosary, became so holy that 
every time he dropped a bead he beheld an angel 
convey it to the Virgin Mary, who magnified it, 
and with the whole string built a palace upon a 
mountain in Paradise. When Dominic entered 
the city of Thoulouse, all the bells of the city rang 
to welcome him, untouched by human hands. 
When a nursing babe he regularly observed fast 
days, and would get out of bed and lie upon the 
ground as a penance. They will show you at Lo- 
retto, in Naples, a house in which the Virgin 
Mary is said to have been born ; and will gravely 
inform you that this house was carried through the 
air by angels, from Nazareth to Loretto, a few cen- 
turies ago. 



192 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

Our whole book might be filled with these ab- 
surd, '^ lying wonders/^ and thousands yet would 
remain untold. 

Is not Rome well called the *' Mother of harlots 
and abominations of the earth" ? No name is too 
harsh for such a monster of iniquity. There may 
be words in the English language strong enough 
to express our indignation and contempt for this 
vile system of shame and wrong, but we cannot 
now recall them. 

So, blessing the memory of honest Martin 
Luther, and praying that author and reader may 
alike be kept secure from the machinations of the 
" Man of Sin," we bring this chapter to its close. 




CHAPTER XIV. 

DRUNK WITH BLOOD. 

" And 1 saw the woman drunken with the blood of the Saints, and 
with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus^ Key. xvii. 6. 

" Such are the tender mercies, tyrant Rome ! 
The rack, the faggot, or the hated creed — 
Fearless amid thy folds fierce wolves may roam, 
Whilst stainless sheep upon thy altars bleed." 

Tj^ROM the commencement of her history, up 
to the present time, Rome has been distin- 
guished by a cruel and blood-thirsty spirit. 
Millions of our fellow-beings have met with death 
at her hands. These bloody and terrible perse- 
cutions have not been exceptions to an otherwise 
peaceful history ; but the steady and unvarying 
practice of the church. It is the doctrine of the 
Romish Church, that heretics may be persecuted 
even unto, death. Cardinal Bellarmine is the 
great expounder of Romish doctrines. In the 



194 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

21st and 22d chapters of the third book of his 
work, entitled *' De Laias/' (concerning the laity,) 
he boldly claims for the church, the right of , 
punishing heretics with death. The notes in the 
Rhemish Testament teach the same horrid 
doctrine. The comment on Luke ix., 55, reads 
as follows ; '' Not justice, nor all rigorous 
punishment of sinners, is here forbidden ; nor 
Elias's fact reprehended ; nor the Church, nor 
Christian princes, blamed for putting heretics to 
death : but that none of these should be done for 
desire of our particular revenge, or without 
discretion, and in regard of their amendment 
and example to others." In the celebrated work 
of Peter Dens, a text-book in nearly every 
popish college and seminary, we find the follow- 
ing on this subject : '^ Are heretics rightly 
punished with Death ? St. Thomas rightly 
answers in the affirmative. Because forgers of 
money, or other disturbers of the state, are justly 
punished with death ; therefore also heretics, 
who are forgers of the faith, and, as experience 
shows, greatly disturb the'state. * "^ ^ This 



DRUNK WITH BLOOD. 1 95 

is confirmed by the command of God, under the 
old law, that the false prophets should be 
killed. -^ ^ ^ The same is proved by the 
condemnation — by the fourteenth article, of 
John Huss, in the Council of Constance/' Thus 
the reader will see that this is still the doctrine 
of the Romish Church. They have not the 
power to put this doctrine in practice, as they 
once had, but should (God forbid) this power 
ever return to them again, we have no reason 
to expect anything else than a return to the 
bloody persecutions of the past. It has been 
estimated that from the birth of Popery, in 
606, to the present time, more than Fifty 
Millions of our race, have been slain by this 
Monster of Iniquity. This is an average of 
more than 40,000 for every year of the existence 
of Popery. 

" No computation can reach the numbers who 
have been put to death, in diJBFerent ways, on ac- 
count of their maintaining the profession of the 
Gospel, and opposing the corruptions of the 
Church of Rome. A million of poor Waldenses 



igS THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

perished in France; nine hundred thousand or- 
thodox Christians were slain in less than thirty 
years after the institution of the order of the 
Jesuits. The Duke of Alva boasted . of having 
put to death, in the Netherlands, thirty-six thou- 
sand, by the hand of the common executioner, 
during the space of a few years. These are a few 
specimens, and but a few, of those which history 
has recorded ; but the total amount will never be 
known till the earth shall disclose her blood, and 
no more cover her slain.'' — [Scotfs Church His- 
tory.) The persecutions of pagan Rome dwindle 
into insignificance, when compared with the per- 
secutions of papal Rome. 

England, now a peaceful, happy Protestant 
country, has been the scene of many a fierce 
Romish persecution. During the reign of the 
** Bloody Queen Mary,'' a space of five years, 288 
persons were burned at the stake, for the crime 
of loving Jesus and the blessed Bible. The first 
martyr was the venerable John Rogers, who was 
burned at Smithfield on the 4th of February, 
1555. The martyrdom of Saunders and Hooper, 



DRUNK WITH BLOOD. 1 97 

of Taylor and Bradford, of Latimer, of Ridley, 
and Cranmer, soon followed. The death of Cran- 
mer was a very remarkable one. In a moment of 
weakness, when threatened with a cruel and vio- 
lent death, he placed his signature to a written 
recantation. He lived to bitterly repent of this 
act, and died at the stake, thus, like thousands of 
others, sealing his testimony with his blood. As 
the flames rose up around him, he held forth his 
right hand and said : ^* This is the hand that 
wrote it, and therefore it shall suffer punishment 
first." He died in glorious triumph. 

God can make human wrath result in his own 
glory and the good of his children. So was it at 
this time. Queen Mary soon after died, and 
peace was restored to the unhappy land. The 
people had seen enough of Romanism. The Pro- 
testants of France^ although they enjoy a fair 
degree of religious liberty now, have suffered 
many severe persecutions in the past. Who has 
not heard of the massacre of St. Bartholomew ? 
Romanists wish that it might be forgotten, but 
unrelenting history has carefully preserved the 



igS THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

record of it. It took place on the 24th of 
August, 1572, It began and raged most exten- 
sively at Paris, yet extended throughout the 
kingdom. The plan was laid by the queen-dow- 
ager of France, Catharine de Medici, in concert 
with her son, Charles IX. Under the pretext 
of a marriage between Henry, the Protestant 
king of Navarre, and Margaret, the sister of 
Charles, the Protestants, in vast numbers, had 
been attracted to Paris. At midnight the signal 
was given, and the butchery commenced. No 
human language can set forth the horrors of that 
frightful massacre. For several days the streets 
of Paris ran with blood. Some ten thousand 
persons, of every age and sex, were murdered. 
From Paris the slaughter extended throughout 
the kingdom, and nearly 100,000 Protestants fell 
as victims to papal cruelty. Solemn thanks were 
returned to God for so signal a victory. Medals 
were ordered to be coined to perpetuate its mem- 
ory. The news of this fearful murder was 
received at Rome with unrestrained delight. A 
universal jubilee was proclaimed by the Pope. 



DRUNK WITH BLOOD. 1 99 

The guns of St. Angelo were fired, and bonfires 
lighted in the streets. A medal was struck in 
the Pope^s mint, with his own head on one side, 
and a representation of the massacre on the 
other, with an angel brandishing a sword, bear- 
ing the inscription : ^* Hugonotarum Strages/^ 
overthrow of the Huguenots. 

In the year 1598, twenty-six years after this 
horrid massacre, Henry IV. issued an edict 
granting the Protestants liberty of worship. In 
1685 Louis XIV. revoked this edict, and the old 
persecutions were revived. They were not al- 
lowed to assemble for public worship, their min- 
isters were banished, and their children com- 
pelled to go to Romish churches. A common 
mode of punishment was called dragooning, that 
is, quartering brutal dragoons upon the poor 
Protestants. 

These dragoons could torture the defenceless 
people in any way they pleased. Cowling, in his 
very able history, gives the following extract on 
this matter, from Quick's Synodicom : " There 
was no wickedness, though ever so brutal, which 



200 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

they did not put in practice, that they might en- 
force them to change their religion. Amidst a 
thousand hideous cries and blasphemies, they 
hung up men and women by the hair or feet upon 
the roofs of their chambers, or hooks of chimneys, 
and smoked them with wisps of wet hay till they 
were no longer able to bear it ; and when they 
had taken them down, if they would not sign an 
abjuration of their pretended heresies, they then 
trussed them up again immediately. Some they 
threw into great fires, kindled on purpose, and 
would not take them out till they were half 
roasted. They tied ropes under their arms, and 
plunged them again and again into deep wells, 
from whence they would not draw them till they 
had promised to change their religion. They 
bound them as criminals are when they are put 
to the rack, and in that posture, putting a funnel 
into their mouths, they poured wine down their 
throats till its fumes had deprived them of their 
reason, and they had in that condition made them 
consent to become Catholics. Some they stripped 
stark naked, and after they had offered them a 



DRUNK WITH BLOOD. 20I 

thousand indignities, they stuck them with pins 

from head to foot ; they cut them with penknives, 

tore them by the noses with red-hot pincers, and 

dragged them about the rooms till they promised 

to become Koman Catholics, or till the doleful cries 

of these poor tormented creatures, calling upon 

God for mercy, constrained them to let them go. 

They beat them with staves, and dragged them, 

all bruised, to the Popish churches, where their 

enforced presence is reputed for an abjuration. 

They kept them working seven or eight days 

together, relieving one another by turns, that 

they might not get a wink of sleep or rest. In 

case they began to nod, they threw buckets of 

water in their faces, or, holding kettles over their 

heads, they beat on them with such a continual 

noise that those poor wretches lost their senses. 

If they found any sick, who kept their beds, men 

or women, be it of fevers or other diseases, they 

were so cruel as to beat up an alarm with twelve 

drums about their beds for a whole week together 

without intermission, till they had promised to 

change. In some places they tied husbands and 
18 



202 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY, 

fathers to the bed-posts, and ravished their wives 
and daughters before their eyes. And in other 
places rapes were publicly and generally permit- 
ted for hours together. From others they plucked 
off the nails of their hands and toes, which must 
needs have caused an intolerable pain.'' 

The heart sickens at the review of these horrid 
details. After all, the half has not been told us. 
Much will never be known until the awful day of 
judgment shall reveal all the secrets of earth. 
We will briefly refer to the persecutions of the 
Waldenses. This peaceful and virtuous people 
lived in the south of France and in Piedmont. 
They would never bow to the dictum of the Pope, 
or follow the corrupt teachings of the Roman 
Catholic Church. For this they suffered the 
most terrible and protracted persecutions. Pop- 
ish armies again and again laid waste their happy 
homes. Children were torn from the arms of 
loving parents, that they might be reared under 
Roman Catholic influence. The helpless victims 
of papal cruelty suffered death in a thousand dif- 
ferent forms. Some, like the saints of old, were 



DRUNK WITH BLOOD. 2O3 

sawn asunder. Some had their throats cut. Oth- 
ers were hurled from the top of some lofty clift. 
Neither old age nor helpless infancy could pro- 
voke pity. 

Let those who regard the Romish hierarchy as 
a branch of Christ^s true church, and who love to 
imitate her ways and teachings, seriously ponder 
on these bloody persecutions. If ever Popery 
gets control of this land, we may expect to see 
these awful scenes re-enacted. 

It is true, these horrid transactions are a thing 
of the past, but when have they been repudiated ? 
They never have been, and never will be. The 
Church of Rome claims to be infallible, and 
having set her seal to these enormities, dare not 
go back on her past history. 

Again we affirm, that all Rome wants is the 
power. Her teachings are unchanged, her spirit 
as stern and cruel as ever. Her garments are 
stained with the blood of fifty million saints^ and 
she still thirsts for more. Let us not flatter our- 
selves that the spirit of Rome has been tamed, or 
her thirst for blood quenched. It will be time 



204 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

enough to believe this, when she shows sorrow 
for her past deeds of blood and cruelty. We 
must see to it that her persecutions are over, in 
this land of Freedom, at least. We must not 
trust to honeyed words and soft pretences. If we 
warm the viper, we will surely be bitten. Pre- 
vention is better than cure. God helping us, we 
will never allow Romanism to establish her 
infernal Inquisition on American soil. 




CHAPTER XV. 

ROME IN PROPHECY. 

" Now the Sphnt speaketh expressly y that in the latter times some 
shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doc- 
trines of devils ; speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience 
seared with a hot iron ; forhidding to marry, and commanding to 
abstain from meats, which God hath created to he received with 
thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truths — 1 TiM. 
iv. 1-3. 

ny /TAN has always manifested an intense desire 
to know the future. History acquaints him 
with the past, and his faculties of observation give 
him a knowledge of the present; yet still he 
loves to peer into the shadowy future, and often 
anxiously inquires concerning " Things coming 
on the earth/' This desire God has, in a measure, 
been pleased to gratify. He has, in his Holy 
Word, to some extent, lifted the vail concealing 
the future, '.and revealed to us a grand outline of 
all human history. It is true, that all parts of 



206 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

prophecy are not fully understood, and perhaps 
will not be, until the events predicted shall have 
taken place ; much seems dim and uncertain, yet 
still much can be understood. We see that truth 
is to triumph over evil and error, and that the 
glory of God is one day to cover all the earth. 
No one, it seems to me, can read the Bible 
without perceiving that a terrible and fearfully 
wicked power was to arise, hold sway over the 
earth, and persecute the saints of the Most High 
for many weary centuries, and finally to disappear 
beneath the wrath of Almighty God. " Man of 
Sin,^' " Anti-Christ,'^ " Babylon,'' " Great Whore," 
seem to refer to the same sinful and cruel power, 
though representing it under different images. 
These prophetic terms, together with many other 
names and images, all refer, we think, to the 
same anti-christian and persecuting hierarchy — 
Papal Rome. The coming of this monster sys- 
tem of iniquity, is first, shadowed forth in the 7th 
chapter of Daniel. This chapter contains an 
account of a vision, in which the prophet beheld 
four beasts rising up in succession, and holding 



ROME IN PROPHECY. lOTj 

dominion over the earth. An explanation of the 
vision is also furnished us in the same chapter. 
By comparing this vision, and its explanation, 
with Nebuchadnezzar^s vision of the image, 
described in the 2d chapter of Daniel, and the 
prophet's explanation, it will be seen that both 
visions refer to the same line of events. The 
four different parts of the image, and the four 
beasts, represent the four great universal King- 
doms of the earth. 

No student of history need be informed that 
these four kingdoms are the Chaldean or Babylo- 
nian, the Medo-Persian, the Grecian, and the 
Latin or Roman. This last universal kingdom, 
the Roman, is represented by a beast more terri- 
ble and fierce than any of the others. " After 
this I saw in the night visions, and behold a 
fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong ex- 
ceedingly ; and it had great iron teeth : it de- 
voured and brake in pieces, and stamped the 
residue with the feet of it : and it was diverse 
from all the beasts that were before it ; and it had 
ten horns." — Dan. vii., 7. Nor is this all. From 



208 



THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 



among the ten horns, another, a '* little horn'' 
arises and plucks up three of the first horns by 
the roots. " And behold in this horn were eyes 
like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking 
great things.'' 

In the latter part of the chapter, this part 
of the vision is fully explained. " Thus he 
said. The fourth beast shall be the fourth king- 
dom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all 
kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and 
shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And 
the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings 
that shall arise ; and another shall arise after 
them ; and he shall be diverse from the first, and 
he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak 
great words against the Most High, and shall 
wear out the saints of the Most High, and think 
to change times and laws ; and they shall be given 
into his hand until a time and times and the 
dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and 
they shall take away his dominion, to consume 
and to destroy it unto the end." — Verses 25, 26. 

The fourth beast was difi'erent from the other 



ROME m PROPHECY. 2O9 

three, and the Roman was different from all 
other kingdoms in its republican form of gov- 
ernment, its greatness, length of duration, and 
extent of dominion. This fourth beast is repre- 
sented as treading down and devouring the whole 
earth. The protracted wars, bloody conquests, 
and universal dominion of the Koman Empire, 
are all matters of history. It was finally divided 
into ten kingdoms, represented by the ten horns. 
The list of the ten kingdoms rising up out of the 
dissolution of the old Roman Empire, as given by 
Bishop Newton, is as follows: 1. The Senate of 
Rome, who revolted from the Greek emperors, 
and claimed, and exerted, the privilege of choos- 
ing a new Western emperor. 2. The Greeks in 
Revenna. 3. The Lombards in Lombardy. 4. 
The Huns in Hungary. 5. The Alemannes in 
Germany. 6. The Franks in France. 7. The 
Burgundians in Burgundy. 8. The Goths in 
Spain. 9. The Britons. 10. The Saxons in Bri- 
tain. And now, after, or behind (that is, unper- 
ceived by them), arises another kingdom, repre- 



2IO THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

sented by the little horn, and one diverse from 
all the others. 

''This is generally agreed, by all Protestant 
interpreters, to be the kingdom of the Pope, 
which was certainly of a very different nature 
from any of the former, being first ecclesiastical, 
or spiritual, and afterward claiming a temporal, 
or civil jurisdiction." — Benson, 

Three of the ten kingdoms were to be plucked 
up by this arrogant new-comer ; and history in- 
forms us that in the eighth century the exarchate 
of Revenna, the kingdom of the Lombards, and 
the state of Rome, were reduced to papal domin- 
ion. This little horn '' had eyes, and a mouth 
that spake very great things, '^ and a look " more 
stout than his fellows, ^^ 

These eyes denote craft, and cunning, qualities 
for which Popery has ever been noted. Cer- 
tainly, if we consider the bulls, anathemas, and 
absolutions of the various Popes, we shall not 
have much trouble in finding the '' Mouth that 
spake very great things.'^ This horn was also 



ROME IN PROPHECY. 2 1 1 

to ^* speak great words against '' or as *' the 
Most High.^^ This is being fulfilled at the 
present hour. The old Pope, Pius IX., claims 
for himself, and his fellow popes, the attribute 
of infallibility, a matter that belongs only to 
God. In Gration^s Decretals, the title of God 
is given to the pope ; while to-day he is hailed 
as " O, Lord, our God, the Pope.'' This hostile 
power should also ^< wear out the saints of the 
Most High ; '' and the frequent and bloody 
persecutions of Rome, remind us that this pre- 
diction has been more than fulfilled. It should 
also "Think to change time and laws." This 
Rome has done in " Appointing fasts and feasts, 
canonizing saints, granting pardons and indul- 
gences for sins, instituting new modes of worship, 
imposing new articles of faith, enjoining new 
rules of practice, and reversing at pleasure the 
laws of God and man.'' — Bishop Kewton, For a 
long time this proud horn will exercise domin- 
ion, but some day " The judgment shall sit, and 
they shall take away his dominion, to consume 



2 12 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

and to destroy it unto the end/' Christ must 
finally triumph, and his Kingdom will sooner or 
later overcome all opposition. Popery will 
perish, and the Kingdom of Emanuel arise in 
everlasting beauty upon its ruins. 

Passing on now to the New Testament, we 
have in the second epistle of Paul to the Thessa- 
lonians a very full prediction of the papal do- 
minion and enormities. '* Let no man deceive 
you by any means : for that day shall not come, 
except there come a falling away first, and that 
man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 
who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that 
is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he, 
as God, sitteth in the temple of God, shewing 
himself that he is God. -h- -sf- -jf ^ ^ ^^^d 
then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the 
Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, 
and shall destroy with the brightness of his com- 
ing : even him, whose coming is after the work- 
ing of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying 
wonders, and with all deceivableness of unright- 



ROME IN PROPHECY. 2 I 3 

eousness in them that perish; because they re- 
ceived not the love of the truth, that they might 
be saved. 

<*And for this cause God shall send them 
strong delusion, that they should believe a lie : 

" That they all might be damned who believed 
not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteous- 
ness.^' 

Nothing has ever appeared in the history of 
the world to which this description applies so 
well, as to Popery. Unless we apply them thus, 
it seems well nigh impossible to give them any 
meaning whatever. Those who compare this 
chapter with the 7th of Daniel, will see a won- 
derful resemblance between tlie two. In some 
verses Paul seems to be almost quoting the pre- 
cise language of his brother prophet. 

Some false teachers had persuaded the Thessa- 
lonians that the day of judgment was nigh at 
hand. As the result of this teaching, many of 
them had indulged in great folly, going so far in 
some cases us to neglect their usual business, and 
ceasing to make any further provision for their 



2 1 4 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

families. Paul wrote his second epistle that he 
might bring them back to a sound mind, and re- 
store the Church to its former healthy condition. 
He tells them that before the end of the world 
shall come, there will be a fearful apostasy from 
the truth, a dark and stormy period for the true 
followers of Christ. He warns them that already 
the unholy leaven has commenced to work. 
Germs of false doctrine and practice have been 
sown, from which shall spring up a corrupt and 
blood-red harvest. 

By the *• Man of sin ^' we do not think that 
any one pope is meant, but the whole succession of 
boastful deceivers. The term " king '^ is some- 
times used in Scripture for a whole succession of 
kings. The term high-priest is used (Heb. ix., 
7, 25,) for the series and order of high-priests. 
So we think the term '^ Man of sin '^ is used to 
designate the whole line of unholy, cruel, arro- 
gant and vicious men, that have occupied for so 
many centuries the pretended chair of St. Peter. 

Having gone over the predictions of Daniel 
relative to the Papacy somewhat in detail, we 



ROME" IN PROPHECY. 2I5 

need not dwell very long on the chapter before 
us. Allusion has already been made to the high 
claims and blasphemous titles of the Popes. They 
have seemed to take special pains that the 4th 
ver^e of the chapter before us should not lack for 
fulfillment. The ^' signs and lying wonders'' are 
worthy a brief consideration. For these Roman- 
ism has ever been noted. The " Lives of Saints/' 
so popular among Roman Catholics, are full of 
the most ridiculous stories. The '^ Breviary/' 
which every priest must read for nearly two 
hours every day, is stuffed with narrations of a 
like character. One of them may be given as a 
sample of the rest. A saint had his head nearly 
cut off by some wicked person, yet he lived two 
days, and carried it in his hands two miles across 
the country, and laid it down where a church was 
afterwards built. 

Many other examples of a like character might 
be given. Who can tell but that the period of 
Rome's ''strong delusion" has now fully come, 
and that the lie to which they are given over is 
none other than the dogma of Papal Infallibility ? 



2l6 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

Paul, in his first epistle to Timothy, refers 
again to the coming apostasy. His words have 
been placed at the head of this chapter. It was 
a " departure from the faithj^^ that Paul foretold, 
and this answers exactly to Romanism. The 
little society of believers, gathered at Rome in 
the time of the apostles, was so pure, that their 
faith was ^-spoken of throughout the whole world." 
But, one corruption crept in after another, power 
and wealth completed the work, and the pure 
faith of Christ was banished from Rome, leaving 
the '* Mother of Harlots" enthroned mistress of 
the world. This apostasy was to '^ give heed to 
seducing spirits;^^ and thus has papal Rome long 
been doing. She prays to saints and angels, 
claims to know the exact condition of the depart- 
ed, and enforces her pretended revelations by 
claiming angelic visions and visitants. ^' And 
doctrines of devils ^''^ or rather, doctrines concern- 
ing demons. The demons of the Greeks were 
beings of a middle nature between God and man. 
To these they prayed and gave worship as medi- 
ators. 



ROME IN PROPHECY. 2I7 

The doctrine and practice of Rome concerning 
the supposed mediatorship of saints and angels, 
agrees very fully with the doctrine of the ancient 
Greeks concerning demons. ^'Speaking lies in 
hypocrisy^ How well this accords with the 
character of the Romish priesthood, those who 
know much about them can soon decide. These 
lies seem to be spoken especially in establishing 
the doctrine of demons, that is, the worship of 
saints and angels. *^ It is impossible,^' says 
Bishop Newton, " to relate or enumerate all the 
various falsehoods and lies which have been in- 
vented and propagated for this purpose ; the 
fabulous books, forged under the names of apos- 
tles, saints and martyrs ; the fabulous legends of 
their lives, actions, sufferings and deaths; the 
fabulous miracles ascribed to their sepulchres, 
bones, and other relics ; the fabulous dreams and 
revelations, visions, and apparitions of the dead 
to the living ; and even the fabulous saints, who 
never existed but in the imaginations of their 
worshipers ; and all these stories the monks, the 
priests, the bishops of the church, have imposed 



2l8 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

and obtruded upon mankind, it is diflBcult to say, 
whether with greater artifice or cruelty, with 
greater confidence or hypocrisy, and pretended 
sanctity, a more hardened face, or a more hard- 
ened conscience." 

^* Having their consciences seared with a hot 
ironJ^ Of course, no man could set forth lies so 
great in number and dark in guilt, unless the con- 
science was thus seared. ^* Forbidding to marry J' 
Papal Rome has long forbidden marriage to her 
clergy, and exalted celibacy as a holier state. 
** Jind commanding to abstain from meatsP Rome 
forbids the use of animal food to some men at all 
times, and to all men at certain times. 

Well has Dr. Hatfield, speaking of the pre- 
dictions we have been considering, said : ^' It 
is almost impossible to read these words without 
a conviction, or at least a suspicion, that they 
were written for the express purpose of describ- 
ing the apostate Church of Rome.'' 

John, in his epistles, speaks of an " A.nti-Christ." 
The Greek word means instead of, as well as 
opposed to. The anti-popes claimed papal au- 



ROME IN PROPHECY. 2 1 9 

thority for themselves, and opposed the reigning 
pontiff. Anti-Christ likewise means one opposed 
to Christ, and also claiming the titles and power 
of Christ. Able interpreters agree that Anti- 
Christ denotes an organized body of men, per- 
petuated from age to age, opposed to Christ, and 
which he will destroy. 

Where can we look for the fulfillment of this 
prophecy, if it is not fulfilled in the Popedom ? 
The identity of papal Rome with Anti-Christ 
has been maintained by Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, 
Melancthon, Bucer, JBeza, Bengel, Cranmer, Lati- 
mer, Ridley, Hooper, Tyndale, Rogers, Sir Isaac 
iSewton, Mede, Bishop Newton, Louth, Vitringa, 
D^Aubigne, Gaussen, Ouseley, Dowling, Mattison, 
and a host of other able thinkers, both in this 
country and Europe. 

We will now turn to the 13th chapter of 
Revelations. The Book of Revelations is the 
most mysterious in the Bible. It is full of types, 
shadows, and symbols. Much of it is not per- 
haps at this time fully understood. Still, we are 
not to turn away from it, as from a book hope- 



220 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

lessly sealed. A blessing is pronounced upon 
those who read and understand it. It is a 
part of Scripture, and is therefore " Given by 
inspiration of God/' and designed for our com- 
fort and instruction. Moreover, the author in 
presenting a few thoughts to the reader, concern- 
ing the part Romanism plays in the grand 
apocalyptic vision, is not giving the result of 
independent research, but the views of some • of 
the ablest and most sober commentators. In 
the 13th chapter of Revelations, John tells us 
that he beheld two beasts, one rising up from the 
sea, and the other coming out of the earth. 
These two beasts, we think, represent Romanism, 
the first representing its secular, and the second 
its ecclesiastical power. It claims to be supreme 
in both. The first beast came up out of the sea, 
that is, from the midst of war and tumult, and 
had seven heads and ten horns. The great 
mass of commentators, ancient and modern, 
Protestants and Papists, agree in maintaining 
that this beast represents the Roman Empire. 
The only question is whether it represents pagan 



ROME IN PROPHECY. 221 

Eome, or Rome under the Popes. It must mean 
Eome under the Popes, for the pagan Roman 
empire rose and was established long before St. 
John's time. The seven heads may allude to the 
seven mountains, on which the city of Rome is 
built, or to the seven forms of government which 
successively prevailed there. The ten horns 
signify the ten Kingdoms, into which the Roman 
empire was divided. This has already been 
considered. '* The names of blasphemy '' may 
refer to the idolatrous names applied to the city 
of Rome, such as '* Tke Eternal City,^^ *' The 
heavenly city,'' etc. This beast is the same as 
Daniel's fourth beast. It partakes, however, of 
the qualities of the three former beasts, having 
the form of a leopard, the feet of a bear, and 
the mouth of a lion. 

Many of the evils of the G-recian, Persian, and 
Babylonian empires were perpetuated in the 
Roman. To this new form of the Roman empire, 
the dragon, old pagan Rome, gave " his power, 
and his seat, and great authority." One of the 
seven heads was " wounded unto death." This 



222 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

appears to have been the sixth head, for five were 
fallen before St. John's time. (See chap, xvii., 10.) 
The five fallen heads, or forms of government, 
were kings, consuls, dictators, decemvirs, and 
military tribunes. The sixth head, or the power 
of the emperors, was wounded unto death, when 
the Roman empire was overturned by the inva- 
sion of the northern nations, and the name and 
ofiBce of emperor alike destroyed. This^' deadly 
wound was healed " when the pope and people 
of Rome revolted from the exarch of Ravenna, 
and proclaimed Charles the Great emperor of the 
Romans. This beast is represented as speaking 
great things, blaspheming God, persecuting the 
saints, and holding almost universal sway over 
the nations of the earth. 

This the secular empire did, yet^ under the con- 
trol and by the dictation of the ecclesiastical power. 
Roman Catholic writers have sometimes boasted 
that the Church never claimed the power of slay- 
ing heretics ; it could only give them over to the 
civil power. We all know just what that 
means. 



ROME m PROPHECY. 223 

As well might the assassin afl&rm that he did 
not do the fatal deed, but the knife that he held 
in his hand. And now (verse 11) the prophet 
beholds another beast. This beast rises up out 
of the earth, that is, like a plant, silently, 
without at first attracting much attention, and 
has two horns like a lamb. This beast repre- 
sents, we think, the ecclesiastical power of 
papal Rome. Although this beast had the 
appearance of a lamb, he nevertheless " spake 
as a dragon. ^^ The Romish Church pretends to 
be very meek and holy, yet commands and 
slays like a tyrant. This second beast joined 
in concerted action with the first. The secular 
and ecclesiastical power of Rome go hand in 
hand. We do not hear so much of the former 
now, simply because they dare not exercise it. 
We have no doubt that if Romanism ever gets 
control of national affairs again, we shall hear 
the same lordly pretentions and the same stern de- 
crees, absolving subjects from allegiance to their 
government, and giving states and crowns to 
parties pleasing to the *' Mother Church." 



224 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

Yerse 13th refers to the pretended miracles 
of Romanism, to which reference has been made 
already. '* And he doeth great wonders, so 
that he maketh fire, come down from heaven on 
the earth in the sight of men/^ 

By means of these pretended miracles the na- 
tions of the earth have been deceived, and the 
power of Popery extended far and wide. ^-And 
deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by means 
of those miracles which he had the power to do 
in the sight of the beast, saying to them that 
dwell on the earth, that they should make an im- 
age to the beast, which had the wound of a sword, 
and did live. And he had power to give life unto 
the image of the beast, that the image of the 
beast should both speak, and cause that as many 
as would not worship the image of the beast 
should be killed/' — Verses 14, 15. This image of 
the beast, this representative idol, many have sup- 
posed to be the Pope. He is only a private per- 
son until the two-horned beast, the ecclesiastical 
power, select him and consecrate him as pope. 
He is then adored as the vicar of Christ, and 



ROME IN PROPHECY. 225 

millions have suffered death because they would 
not join in this idolatry. 

The two-horned beast is further represented as 
causing all men to receive in the hand or forehead 
some mark, by which his ownership of them 
might be publicly acknowledged. Those who 
had not this mark could neither buy nor sell. 
Rome, whenever possessed of the power, has al- 
ways caused men to bow down to her peculiar 
forms, and has often interdicted from buying or 
selling those who would not comply. 

The reader is referred for further light on the 
history and destiny of Popery to the 17th and 
18th chapters of the book of Revelations. In 
one chapter it is represented under the figure of 
a harlot; in the other under that of a wicked and 
populous city* But the harlot is to be judged, 
and the city to be overthrown. The Bible clearly 
marks out the rise, progress, sway and final over- 
throw of Romanism. Its days are numbered. Al- 
ready there are signs of the coming ruin. The en- 
tire edifice is rotten, and must fall. It is crimsoned 

by the blood and reeking with the moral filth of 
20 



226 



THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 



ages, and soon the thunderbolts of Divine wrath 
shall cleave it from cap-stone to foundation. The 
twelve hundred and sixty days are hastening to 
their close. The Pope is propped up by French 
bayonets, and when they are withdrawn the Ital- 
ians will hurl him in indignation from the throne. 
I hope that reader and writer will live to see the 
hour. It seems to me that the skies will be 
brighter, and the light sweeter, and that men 
will breathe freer, when the dark shadow of 
Popery is lifted from the earth. 




CHAPTER XVI. 

THE PERIL OF THE HOUR. 

^*To be forewarned is to be forearmed." — Old Proverb. 

/~\UR task is well-nigh done. We have 
endeavored to state fairly the questions at 
issue between Romanists and Protestants. We 
have demonstrated the right of the Bible, and 
the Bible alone, to decide in this, and all other 
controversies of a religious character. We have 
shown how Popery arose, and have carefully con- 
sidered its false dogmas and superstitious prac- 
tices. We have followed the stream of her dark 
and bloody history, until we turned with horror 
from the theme. We have viewed the prophetic 
relations of Romanism, and have read of its cor- 
rupt history and final overthrow in the Word of 
God. It now onlv remains that we warn our 



228 



THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 



countrymen of its dark and deep designs con« 
cerning our beloved land, and of the fearful 
shadow hanging over this fair republic. Casting 
a hurried glance over the nations of the earth, 
we see that in many lands Romanism is going 
down. It is going down in Spain, in Mexico, in 
Austria, in France — yea, in Italy itself. Bibles 
are now distributed in Rome, and more than this, 
thanks to Victor Emanuel, Protestant churches 
have been organized in that city. Spain has been, 
in like manner, thrown open to the light, and the 
pure gospel of Christ may now be preached in that 
once benighted land. In Austria the Pope has 
been openly defied, and a faint gleam of religious 
liberty breaks in upon that land, so long held in 
complete subjection to the Papal See. In Mexico 
a small band of believers have organized the 
** Church of Jesus,'^ in opposition to the corrupt 
Church of Rome, called in that land the '* Church 
of Mary.'' 

While Romanism is thus going down in the 
Old World, and even in some parts of the New, 
it is on the increase in the United States. It pre- 



THE PERIL OF THE HOUR. 229 

sents the phenomenon of a tree dead or dying in 
the trunk and branches, yet sending up a green and 
vigorous shoot from the roots. The old Pope sees 
that his power is waning in Europe, and longs to 
establish his tottering throne on a firmer basis in 
the United States. The Romish press and priest- 
hood already begin to boast that this country will 
soon be theirs. Father Hecker has predicted that 
such an event will be brought to pass within the 
next thirty years. He may be bolder and more 
hopeful than some of his colleagues, but they all 
look forward to the time when this republic shall 
be completely under their control. 

Any one by comparing the strength of Rome 
in the United States, at the present time, with 
its strength and position ten years ago, will see 
that during the past ten years it has made fear- 
ful progress. If we want to know what will be 
our position, if Rome ever gets supreme control 
in this land, we can soon satisfy our curiosity. 
We know what Romanism has been in the ages 
past. We tremble as we read her dark and 
blood V history. We know what Romanism is to- 



230 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

day. We hear the same lordly pretensions, and 
every now and then, see the manifestations of her 
cruel and intolerant spirit. We know what 
Romanism is in Spain, in Austria, in Mexico? 
in Ireland, in Italy. We know how much reli- 
gious liberty was enjoyed at Rome, when the 
Pope was supreme, and the influence of Protest- 
antism was unfelt ; in Rome, where Protestant 
worship was forbidden by law, and American 
women arrested for seeking to found an orphan 
asylum. No Protestant Englishman or Scotchman 
dare buy land in any part of Romish Ireland 
with a view to living on it. Here is the notice, 
which not long ago was served on many Protest- 
ant landlords and tenants in the Romish dis- 
tricts of Ireland : • 

*' NOTICE! 

March, 1869. 

** Sir :—You have let to a heretic, or Protestant, a farm in this 
part of the country, hut he shall never put his foot upon it, or he will 
never leave it alive. We will never allow a heretic to live amongst us. 
80 if he put his foot mi these lands he will he shot dead. The hall is 
ready for him. This is no idle threat, so help me God. 

'' One of the People." 

This spirit Romanists bring with them to this 



THE PERIL OF THE HOUR. 23 I 

country. A fine illustration was given of it, 
a short time ago, in the city of New York, when a 
peaceful pic-nic, held under the auspices of the 
«< American Protestant Association," was violently 
assailed and broken up. These things are not 
done by the people without the knowledge and 
connivance of the priests and leaders. They 
have the people under their complete control, 
and could prevent these scenes of bloody if they 
only wished to. If they can keep them from read- 
ing Protestant books, and going to Protestant 
churches, they can keep them from assailing Pro- 
testant pic-nics and mobbing Protestant lecturers. 

Once in a while some of their leaders are rash 
enough to lift the curtain and show us the dark 
and fearful background. Some years ago the 
Shepherd of the Valley, the organ of the Bishop 
of St. Louis, gave expression to the following 
sentiment: '^The Church is, of necessity, intoler- 
ant. Heresy she endures when and where she 
must ; but she hates it, and directs all her ener- 
gies to its destruction. If Catholics ever gain an 
immense numerical majority, religious freedom in 



232 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

this country is at an end. So our enemies say ; 
so we believe.'^ Brownson's Review, of about 
the same date, joins in substantially the same 
assertion : " The liberty of heresy and un belief 
is not a natural right. All the rights the sects 
have, or can have, are derived from the State, 
and rest on expediency. As they have, in their 
character of sects hostile to the true religion 
(Popery), no rights under the law of nature or 
the law of God, they are neither wronged nor 
deprived of liberty, if the State refuses to grant 
them any rights at all.^' The New York Tablet 
ridicules the idea of a '' liberal Catholic/^ A 
Western Koman Catholic paper recently said : 
'' Heresy and unbelief are crimes, and in states 
under religious (Romish) control, are to be pun- 
ished as other crimes.'' 

A very important question now arises, namely : 
By what means does Romanism hope to get the 
supremacy in this country ? She has more than 
one method of reaching this point. Her plans 
are deep and well laid. Some of them we will 
now consider. 



THE PERIL OF THE HOUR. 233 

1. She hopes to destroy our public school system^ 
and thus increase her power ^ by quenching this 
torch of light and learning. 

The more ignorant and superstitious a commu- 
nity is, the better can Romanism work among it. 
A mad dog does not dread the sight of water any 
worse than a Roman Catholic priest dreads the 
sight of a public school. Some think that Ro- 
manists will be satisfied if they can get the Bible 
out of the public schools, but such is not the case. 
Nothing will satisfy them but the complete aboli- 
tion of the entire system. 

On this point the Roman Catholic press is de- 
cided and united. The Tablet says: '^ To us god- 
less schools are still less acceptable than sectarian 
schools; and we object less to the reading of 
King James' Bible, even in the schools, than we 
do to the exclusion of all religious instruction.'' 

The Catholic World says : '* We oppose sepa- 
rating secular training from religious training, 
and can never consent to the secularization of 
education. Here is where we and the present 
race of Protestants differ. It is because the com.- 



234 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

mon schools secularize, and are intended by their 
chief supporters to secularize, education, and to 
make all life secular, that we oppose them, and 
refuse to send our children to them, when we can 
possibly avoid it/^ 

It is easy to see the drift of these remarks. 
They want the schools under the dominion of 
Romanism, or else they want the entire system 
abolished. They do not wish to join in support- 
ing them, and they refuse to send their children 
to them. Our glorious public school system stands 
as a mighty barrier before the advancing waves 
of Romanism. Remove this barrier, and their 
final victory will become a mere question of time. 

2. They hope to make a host of youthful con- 
verts by means of their convents and sectarian 
schools. 

They have a vast number of schools and semi- 
naries scattered all over the land. They make 
great pretensions, and many silly Protestants send 
their sons and daughters to be educated in them. 
It is so fashionable and romantic to go away to 
the "' College of the Sacred Heart,'' *< St. Joseph's 



THE PERIL OF THE HOUR. 235 

Academy," or the '^Ursuline Convent/^to be ed- 
ucated. Poor, red-faced, ignorant Mrs. Shoddy, 
who thinks that *' one church is as good as anoth- 
er," and who does not know but that the massacre 
of St. Bartholomew took place during the late 
war, thinks that it is such a fine thing to say, 
" My daughter has been educated in a convent.'^ 
Poor, silly flies ! so easily trapped by the Romish 
spiders. These academies and seminaries are 
grand proselyting institutions. They are the 
poorest schools in the country. They give a little 
smattering of French and music, painting and 
drawing ; but as for history, science, literature, 
but little is taught or learned. They teach silly 
and romantic young women how to become Roman 
Catholics, better than they teach anything else. 
These schools are a very important part of popish 
machinery. Every year they carry over to Rome 
a host of youthful and impulsive converts. Thou- 
sands of dollars are annually voted to them by 
unscrupulous politicians. They are going up all 
over the land. They are said to be free from 
sectarian influence. The rich and the fashionable 



236 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

send their children to them. But we know that 
they are arranged with the intent of making con- 
verts. The music, the painting, the conversation, 
the very atmosphere, all breathe the spirit of 
Romanism. Why are Romanists so anxious to 
educate American women ? Why is it that they 
care so little for the women of Spain, of Mexico, 
of Austria ? They are very anxious to educate 
the women of the United States ; why not give a 
little attention to those of Rome and Italy ? 
^^ Charity should begin at home.'^ When they 
manifest some desire to educate the daughters of 
other lands, we may give them a little credit for 
sincerity. Until that time we shall be compelled 
to think that their schools and seminaries in this 
land are only so many ways of adding to the 
wealth and power of the Romish Church. 

3. They hope to gain strength by the tendency 
of Ritualism to the communion of Rome, 

There has been manifested of late in many 
churches, nominally Protestant, a painful tendency 
to imitate the teachings and doings of Romanism. 
One form after another has been introduced, 



THE PERIL OF THE HOUR. 237 

until you can hardly see the difference between 
them and those they imitate. The whole thing is 
very funny ; Protestants and Romanists alike 
despise and laugh at the curious exploits of the 
Ritualists. Unwilling to be called Romanists, 
they nevertheless have but little sympathy for 
their Protestant neighbors. They form a sort of 
connecting link in the religious world. A show- 
man in explaining the nature of amphibious 
animals, said «* they could not live on the 
land, and died in the water." So the Ritualists 
can not be happy in the Protestant fold, rebel 
against the name and its associations, yet hesitate 
about going over boldly to Rome. 

Every now and then, some of the more ad- 
vanced Ritualists go over directly to Rome. 
This is where they all of right belong. One of 
two reasons can alone deter them all from taking 
this step. Either they have not moral courage 
enough to take the step, or else, Jesuit like, they 
think they can do more harm to the Protestant 
cause, by remaining where they are. From 

them Rome expects much aid and comfort. They 
21 



238 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

make the people familiar with her forms and 
ceremonies, and form a sort of connecting link, or 
bridge, over which thousands pass to the old 
" Mother Church." Ritualism would be sad 
enough, if it meant nothing more than ceremonies 
and side-shows, a sort of amusement for idiotic 
and superannuated clergymen. But it means more 
than that. It means, '' We are weary of Protes- 
tant forms and doctrines, we want the ceremonies 
and dogmas of Popery, we want something to 
please the eye and delight the ear, yet something 
that will not set too hard upon the conscience, or 
require too much of the heart." May God in his 
mercy give the ecclesiastical body to which these 
men belong, the nerve and power to cast them o£F, 
so that they may be compelled to show their 
colors, and prevented from corrupting a church 
that has given to the world so many brave and 
true men. 

4. Romanism expects much aid from the poli- 
ticians^ in the subjugation of this country. Pro- 
fessional politicians are men of very little prin- 
ciple. They are after the loaves and fishes, 



THE PERIL OF THE HOUR. 239 

seeking ever their own personal emolument. If 
they can gain votes by donating money to Papal 
institutions, by sending their daughters to Romish 
schools, and attending Roman Catholic churches 
and fairs, they will do it. This is the reason why 
every year hundreds of thousands of dollars are 
voted to Roman Catholic institutions. If Metho- 
dists, Presbyterians, or any Protestant religious 
body, undertake to build hospitals, or schools, or 
asylums; they do not ask or expect that the iState 
will bear any part of the expense. Why is it so 
different with Roman Catholics ? Why are they 
so much unlike the rest ? Is it not that they 
hope one day to become our established church, 
and begin even now to anticipate their coming 
glory ? 

If a Protestant church is to be dedicated, we 
do not see the Governor and Mayor, Senators and 
Congressmen in such eager haste to attend. 
Politicians know that Protestants vote differently, 
that there is no power impelling them to think 
and vote in concert. They also know that the 
great mass of Roman Catholics vote in one 



240 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

way, that they act in coucert ; hence the eager- 
ness with which they labor to secure their 
votes. 

What, then, is our duty under these circum- 
stances ? We see the forces of Popery combined 
together for the overthjow of our civil and 
religious liberty. We hear the tread of their 
gathering hosts. Every day brings new recruits 
from the Old World, and furnishes them with 
some converts from the New. We see their 
churches and schools go up as by the hand of 
magic ; while every week the Romish press grows 
bolder and more defiant. 

1 We must see to it, that our school system 
is not impaired or overthrown by them. This is 
the great strength and glory of our land. Here 
the children of the poor, and the children of the 
rich meet together, drinking alike from the 
springs of learning. The poorest man in the 
land may give his children a good education. 
Romanism will never prevail in this land, unless 
she first succeeds in overthrowing our system of 
free public schools. 



THE PERIL OF THE HOUR. 24 1 

" Fear not the skeptic's puny ire 
While near the school-house stands the spire, 
Nor fear the higofs iron rule, 
"While near the church spire stands the school." 

We must also retain the Bible in our schools. 
We might as well make a stand at the first assault. 
Nothing will be gained by a compromise. We 
might as well try to compromise with the devour- 
ing flame. Let our glorious public school system 
stand, Bible and all, and we can bid defiance to 
Rome and her machinations. 

2. We must not send our children to Babylon 
for an education. There are Protestant colleges 

and seminaries enough to select from. Shame 
on Protestant parents who put their children 
in the very gates of hell for an education. 
Eomanism is fearfully corrupt. Her doctrines 
and morals, her priests and her people, are 
all more or less corrupt. Shall the old har- 
lot of the seven hills educate the fair daugh- 
ters of America ? 

3. We must watch our politicians. If they 
vote away our money to Romish institutions, we 



242 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

must hold them to a strict account. A Eoman 
Catholic cannot be trusted' in office. They will 
surely use their influence to promote the cause of 
the papacy. The ballot is going to be a great 
power in this contest. God grant that the ballot, 
and not the bullet^ may decide in this coming 
conflict. 

4. We must give no more money to support 
Roman Catholic institutions^ to build their church- 
es, or to pay their priests. There is always 
great temptation to do this. Business men 
do it as a matter of policy ; politicians do the 
same. But let our politicians and business men 
remember that every dollar given to Rome goes 
to build the prison of American hopes, drives a 
nail in Liberty^s coffin. 

5. We must enlighten the people. They must 
see and feel the impending danger. Bj and by 
it may be too late. The price of liberty is eter- 
nal vigilance. Many of our secular newspapers 
are under the control of Romanism. Many of 
our religious papers are afraid to speak out on 



THE PERIL OF THE HOUR. 243 

this subject. Some of our ministers are strangely 
silent. As faithful watchmen, we must give the 
warning. Many of the people do not know what 
the doctrines of the Romish Church are. They 
think of it as one among many other Christian 
churches. They forget the bloody persecutions 
of the past, and think that the lion has be- 
come the lamb. We must lift the veil, and 
show them the true nature of this Mystery of 
Iniquity. 

6. We must see that no one suffers in person 
or property, because they will not bow down to 
the superstitions of popery. Religious liberty is 
the birthright of every American citizen. Laws 
must be passed by which convents shall be in- 
spected, and those therein imprisoned restored to 
full liberty. The issue is before us. The conflict 
is upon us. It will most likely be the last great 
conflict between light and darkness, good and 
evil. Defeated here, Romanism will never bear 
rule over the nations of the earth again. Suc- 
cessful in her assaults upon this country, and she 



244 THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

may put the world back again into the darkness 
of the middle ages. But we fear no such result. 
God and truth must triumph. The doom of Anti- 
Christ is sealed. The towers of Babylon must 
fall. 



" Take heart ! The promised hour draws near ; 

I hear the downward beat of wings, 
And Freedom's trumpet sounding clear : 
Joy to the people ! Woe and fear 

To new-world tyrants, old-world kings." 




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